Chapter III: Part 3

He who seeks to transform humanity must himself understand humanity. Only through sympathy, faith, and love can men be reached and uplifted. Here Christ stands revealed as the master teacher; of all that ever dwelt on the earth, He alone has perfect understanding of the human soul.

“We have not a high priest”—master teacher, for the priests were teachers—“we have not a high priest that can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are.”[87]

[Sidenote: “_He Suffered Being Tempted_”]

“In that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.”[88]

Christ alone had experience in all the sorrows and temptations that befall human beings. Never another of woman born was so fiercely beset by temptation; never another bore so heavy a burden of the world’s sin and pain. Never was there another whose sympathies were so broad or so tender. A sharer in all the experiences of humanity, He could feel not only for, but with, every burdened and tempted and struggling one.

[Sidenote: _What He Taught, He Was_]

What He taught, He lived. “I have given you an example,” He said to His disciples; “that ye should do as I have done.” “I have kept My Father’s commandments.”[89] Thus in His life, Christ’s words had perfect illustration and support. And more than this; what He taught, He was. His words were the expression, not only of His own life-experience, but of His own character. Not only did He teach the truth, but He was the truth. It was this that gave His teaching power.

[Sidenote: _Power to Win Hearts_]

Christ was a faithful reprover. Never lived there another who so hated evil; never another whose denunciation of it was so fearless. To all things untrue and base His very presence was a rebuke. In the light of His purity, men saw themselves unclean, their life’s aims mean and false. Yet He drew them. He who had created man, understood the value of humanity. Evil He denounced as the foe of those whom He was seeking to bless and to save. In every human being, however fallen, He beheld a son of God, one who might be restored to the privilege of his divine relationship.

“God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”[90] Looking upon men in their suffering and degradation, Christ perceived ground for hope where appeared only despair and ruin. Wherever there existed a sense of need, there He saw opportunity for uplifting. Souls tempted, defeated, feeling themselves lost, ready to perish, He met, not with denunciation, but with blessing.

[Sidenote: _Salutation of Blessing_]

The beatitudes were His greeting to the whole human family. Looking upon the vast throng gathered to listen to the sermon on the mount, He seemed for the moment to have forgotten that He was not in heaven, and He used the familiar salutation of the world of light. From His lips flowed blessings as the gushing forth of a long-sealed fountain.

Turning from the ambitious, self-satisfied favorites of this world, He declared that those were blessed who, however great their need, would receive His light and love. To the poor in spirit, the sorrowing, the persecuted, He stretched out His arms, saying, “Come unto Me.... I will give you rest.”[91]

[Sidenote: _Perception of Man’s Possibilities_]

In every human being He discerned infinite possibilities. He saw men as they might be, transfigured by His grace,—in “the beauty of the Lord our God.”[92] Looking upon them with hope, He inspired hope. Meeting them with confidence, He inspired trust. Revealing in Himself man’s true ideal, He awakened, for its attainment, both desire and faith. In His presence souls despised and fallen realized that they still were men, and they longed to prove themselves worthy of His regard. In many a heart that seemed dead to all things holy were awakened new impulses. To many a despairing one there opened the possibility of a new life.

Christ bound men to His heart by the ties of love and devotion; and by the same ties He bound them to their fellow-men. With Him love was life, and life was service. “Freely ye have received,” He said, “freely give.”[93]

[Sidenote: _In the Secret Place of Power_]

It was not on the cross only that Christ sacrificed Himself for humanity. As “He went about doing good,”[94] every-day’s experience was an outpouring of His life. In one way only could such a life be sustained. Jesus lived in dependence upon God and communion with Him. To the secret place of the Most High, under the shadow of the Almighty, men now and then repair; they abide for a season, and the result is manifest in noble deeds; then their faith fails, the communion is interrupted, and the life-work marred. But the life of Jesus was a life of constant trust, sustained by continual communion; and His service for heaven and earth was without failure or faltering.

As a man He supplicated the throne of God, till His humanity was charged with a heavenly current that connected humanity with divinity. Receiving life from God, He imparted life to men.

[Sidenote: _The Scope of His Teaching_]

“Never man spake like this Man.”[95] This would have been true of Christ had He taught only in the realm of the physical and the intellectual, or in matters of theory and speculation solely. He might have unlocked mysteries that have required centuries of toil and study to penetrate. He might have made suggestions in scientific lines that, till the close of time, would have afforded food for thought and stimulus for invention. But He did not do this. He said nothing to gratify curiosity or to stimulate selfish ambition. He did not deal in abstract theories, but in that which is essential to the development of character; that which will enlarge man’s capacity for knowing God, and increase his power to do good. He spoke of those truths that relate to the conduct of life, and that unite man with eternity.

Instead of directing the people to study men’s theories about God, His word, or His works, He taught them to behold Him, as manifested in His works, in His word, and by His providences. He brought their minds in contact with the mind of the Infinite.

The people “were astonished at His teaching;[96] for His word was with power.”[97] Never before spoke one who had such power to awaken thought, to kindle aspiration, to arouse every capability of body, mind, and soul.

[Sidenote: _For All Men and All Ages_]

Christ’s teaching, like His sympathies, embraced the world. Never can there be a circumstance of life, a crisis in human experience, which has not been anticipated in His teaching, and for which its principles have not a lesson. The Prince of teachers, His words will be found a guide to His co-workers till the end of time.

To Him the present and the future, the near and the far, were one. He had in view the needs of all mankind. Before His mind’s eye was outspread every scene of human effort and achievement, of temptation and conflict, of perplexity and peril. All hearts, all homes, all pleasures and joys and aspirations, were known to Him.

He spoke not only for, but to, all mankind. To the little child, in the gladness of life’s morning; to the eager, restless heart of youth; to men in the strength of their years, bearing the burden of responsibility and care; to the aged in their weakness and weariness,—to all, His message was spoken,—to every child of humanity, in every land and in every age.

[Sidenote: _Life’s True Valuation_]

In His teaching were embraced the things of time and the things of eternity,—things seen, in their relation to things unseen, the passing incidents of common life and the solemn issues of the life to come.

The things of this life He placed in their true relation, as subordinate to those of eternal interest; but He did not ignore their importance. He taught that heaven and earth are linked together, and that a knowledge of divine truth prepares man better to perform the duties of daily life.

To Him nothing was without purpose. The sports of the child, the toils of the man, life’s pleasures and cares and pains, all were means to the one end,—the revelation of God for the uplifting of humanity.

[Sidenote: “_God with Us_”]

From His lips the word of God came home to men’s hearts with new power and new meaning. His teaching caused the things of creation to stand out in new light. Upon the face of nature once more rested gleamings of that brightness which sin had banished. In all the facts and experiences of life were revealed a divine lesson and the possibility of divine companionship. Again God dwelt on earth; human hearts became conscious of His presence; the world was encompassed with His love. Heaven came down to men. In Christ their hearts acknowledged Him who had opened to them the science of eternity,—

“Immanuel, God with us.”

* * * * *

In the Teacher sent from God, all true educational work finds its center. Of this work to-day as verily as of the work He established eighteen hundred years ago, the Saviour speaks in the words,—

[Sidenote: “_The First and the Last_”]

“I am the first and the last, and the Living One.”

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.”[98]

In the presence of such a Teacher, of such opportunity for divine education, what worse than folly is it to seek an education apart from Him,—to seek to be wise apart from Wisdom; to be true while rejecting Truth; to seek illumination apart from the Light, and existence without the Life; to turn from the Fountain of living waters, and hew out broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Behold, He is still inviting: “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said,” out of him “shall flow rivers of living water.” “The water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life.”[99]

_An Illustration of His Methods_

“UNTO THE MEN WHOM THOU
GAVEST ME, I HAVE MANIFESTED
THY NAME”

[Sidenote: _Training of the Twelve_]

The most complete illustration of Christ’s methods as a teacher is found in His training of the twelve first disciples. Upon these men were to rest weighty responsibilities. He had chosen them as men whom He could imbue with His Spirit, and who could be fitted to carry forward His work on earth when He should leave it. To them, above all others, He gave the advantage of His own companionship. Through personal association He impressed Himself upon these chosen co-laborers. “The Life was manifested,” says John the beloved, “and we have seen it, and bear witness.”[100]

Only by such communion,—the communion of mind with mind and heart with heart, of the human with the divine,—can be communicated that vitalizing energy which it is the work of true education to impart. It is only life that begets life.

[Sidenote: _The Family School_]

In the training of His disciples the Saviour followed the system of education established at the beginning. The twelve first chosen, with a few others who through ministry to their needs were from time to time connected with them, formed the family of Jesus. They were with Him in the house, at the table, in the closet, in the field. They accompanied Him on His journeys, shared His trials and hardships, and, as much as in them was, entered into His work.

Sometimes He taught them as they sat together on the mountainside, sometimes beside the sea, or from the fisherman’s boat, sometimes as they walked by the way. Whenever He spoke to the multitude, the disciples formed the inner circle. They pressed close beside Him, that they might lose nothing of His instruction. They were attentive listeners, eager to understand the truths they were to teach in all lands and to all ages.

[Sidenote: _From the Common People_]

The first pupils of Jesus were chosen from the ranks of the common people. They were humble, unlettered men, these fishers of Galilee; men unschooled in the learning and customs of the rabbis, but trained by the stern discipline of toil and hardship. They were men of native ability and of teachable spirit; men who could be instructed and moulded for the Saviour’s work. In the common walks of life there is many a toiler patiently treading the round of his daily tasks, unconscious of latent powers that, roused to action, would place him among the world’s great leaders. Such were the men who were called by the Saviour to be His co-laborers. And they had the advantage of three years’ training by the greatest educator this world has ever known.

[Sidenote: _Types of Character_]

In these first disciples was presented a marked diversity. They were to be the world’s teachers, and they represented widely varied types of character. There were Levi Matthew the publican, called from a life of business activity, and subservience to Rome; the zealot Simon, the uncompromising foe of the imperial authority; the impulsive, self-sufficient, warm-hearted Peter, with Andrew his brother; Judas the Judean, polished, capable, and mean-spirited; Philip and Thomas, faithful and earnest, yet slow of heart to believe; James the less and Jude, of less prominence among the brethren, but men of force, positive both in their faults and in their virtues; Nathanael, a child in sincerity and trust; and the ambitious, loving-hearted sons of Zebedee.

[Sidenote: _To Come into Unity_]

In order successfully to carry forward the work to which they had been called, these disciples, differing so widely in natural characteristics, in training, and in habits of life, needed to come into unity of feeling, thought, and action. This unity it was Christ’s object to secure. To this end He sought to bring them into unity with Himself. The burden of His labor for them is expressed in His prayer to the Father, “that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us; ... that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.”[101]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: _His Closest Companions_]

Of the twelve disciples, four were to act a leading part, each in a distinct line. In preparation for this, Christ taught them, foreseeing all. James, destined to swift-coming death by the sword; John, longest of the brethren to follow his Master in labor and persecution; Peter, the pioneer in breaking through the barriers of ages, and teaching the heathen world; and Judas, in service capable of pre-eminence above his brethren, yet brooding in his soul purposes of whose ripening he little dreamed,—these were the objects of Christ’s greatest solicitude, and the recipients of His most frequent and careful instruction.

[Sidenote: _John_]

Peter, James, and John sought every opportunity of coming into close contact with their Master, and their desire was granted. Of all the twelve their relationship to Him was closest. John could be satisfied only with a still nearer intimacy, and this he obtained. At that first conference beside the Jordan, when Andrew, having heard Jesus, hurried away to call his brother, John sat silent, rapt in the contemplation of wondrous themes. He followed the Saviour, ever an eager, absorbed listener. Yet John’s was no faultless character. He was no gentle, dreamy enthusiast. He and his brother were called “the sons of thunder.”[102] John was proud, ambitious, combative; but beneath all this the divine Teacher discerned the ardent, sincere, loving heart. Jesus rebuked his self-seeking, disappointed his ambitions, tested his faith. But He revealed to him that for which his soul longed,—the beauty of holiness, His own transforming love. “Unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world,” He said to the Father, “I have manifested Thy name.”[103]

[Sidenote: _Fellowship_; _Transformation_]

John’s was a nature that longed for love, for sympathy and companionship. He pressed close to Jesus, sat by His side, leaned upon His breast. As a flower the sun and dew, so did he drink in the divine light and life. In adoration and love he beheld the Saviour, until likeness to Christ and fellowship with Him became his one desire, and in his character was reflected the character of his Master.

“Behold,” he said, “what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.”[104]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: _Peter_]

The history of no one of the disciples better illustrates Christ’s method of training than does the history of Peter. Bold, aggressive, and self-confident, quick to perceive and forward to act, prompt in retaliation yet generous in forgiving, Peter often erred, and often received reproof. Nor were his warm-hearted loyalty and devotion to Christ the less decidedly recognized and commended. Patiently, with discriminating love, the Saviour dealt with His impetuous disciple, seeking to check his self-confidence, and to teach him humility, obedience, and trust.

But only in part was the lesson learned. Self-assurance was not uprooted.

Often Jesus, the burden heavy upon His own heart, sought to open to the disciples the scenes of His trial and suffering. But their eyes were holden. The knowledge was unwelcome, and they did not see. Self-pity, that shrank from fellowship with Christ in suffering, prompted Peter’s remonstrance, “Pity Thyself, Lord; this shall not be unto Thee.”[105] His words expressed the thought and feeling of the twelve.

So they went on, the crisis drawing nearer; they, boastful, contentious, in anticipation apportioning regal honors, and dreaming not of the cross.

[Sidenote: _Rebuke That Reclaims_]

[Sidenote: “_I Have Prayed for Thee_”]

For them all, Peter’s experience had a lesson. To self-trust, trial is defeat. The sure outworking of evil still unforsaken, Christ could not prevent. But as His hand had been outstretched to save when the waves were about to sweep over Peter, so did His love reach out for his rescue when the deep waters swept over his soul. Over and over again, on the very verge of ruin, Peter’s words of boasting brought him nearer and still nearer to the brink. Over and over again was given the warning, “Thou shalt ... deny that thou knowest Me.”[106] It was the grieved, loving heart of the disciple that spoke out in the avowal, “Lord, I am ready to go with Thee, both into prison, and to death;”[107] and He who reads the heart gave to Peter the message, little valued then, but that in the swift-falling darkness would shed a ray of hope: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”[108]

[Sidenote: “_When Thou Art Converted_”]

When in the judgment-hall the words of denial had been spoken; when Peter’s love and loyalty, awakened under the Saviour’s glance of pity and love and sorrow, had sent him forth to the garden where Christ had wept and prayed; when his tears of remorse dropped upon the sod that had been moistened with the blood-drops of His agony,—then the Saviour’s words, “I have prayed for thee; ... when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren,” were a stay to his soul. Christ, though foreseeing his sin, had not abandoned him to despair.

If the look that Jesus cast upon him had spoken condemnation instead of pity; if in foretelling the sin He had failed of speaking hope, how dense would have been the darkness that encompassed Peter! how reckless the despair of that tortured soul! In that hour of anguish and self-abhorrence, what could have held him back from the path trodden by Judas?

[Sidenote: _Not Alone_]

He who could not spare His disciple the anguish, left him not alone to its bitterness. His is a love that fails not nor forsakes.

Human beings, themselves given to evil, are prone to deal untenderly with the tempted and the erring. They can not read the heart, they know not its struggle and pain. Of the rebuke that is love, of the blow that wounds to heal, of the warning that speaks hope, they have need to learn.

[Sidenote: “_Tell Peter_”]

It was not John, the one who watched with Him in the judgment-hall, who stood beside His cross, and who of the twelve was first at the tomb,—it was not John, but Peter, that was mentioned by name in the first message sent to the disciples by Christ after His resurrection. “Tell His disciples and Peter,” the angel said, “that He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him.”[109]

At the last meeting of Christ with the disciples by the sea, Peter, tested by the thrice-given question, “Lovest thou Me?” was restored to his place among the twelve. His work was appointed him; he was to feed the Lord’s flock. Then, as His last personal direction, Jesus bade him, “Follow thou Me.”[110]

[Sidenote: _The Lesson Learned_]

Now he could appreciate the words. The lesson Christ had given when He set a little child in the midst of the disciples and bade them become like him, Peter could now better understand. Knowing more fully both his own weakness and Christ’s power, he was ready to trust and to obey. In His strength he could follow his Master.

And at the close of his experience of labor and sacrifice, the disciple once so unready to discern the cross, counted it a joy to yield up his life for the gospel, feeling only that, for him who had denied the Lord, to die in the same manner as his Master died was too great an honor.

[Sidenote: _A Miracle of Miracles_]

A miracle of divine tenderness was Peter’s transformation. It is a life-lesson to all who seek to follow in the steps of the Master Teacher.

* * * * *

Jesus reproved His disciples, He warned and cautioned them; but John and Peter and their brethren did not leave Him. Notwithstanding the reproofs, they chose to be with Jesus. And the Saviour did not, because of their errors, withdraw from them. He takes men as they are, with all their faults and weaknesses, and trains them for His service, if they will be disciplined and taught by Him.

[Sidenote: _Judas_]

But there was one of the twelve to whom, until very near the close of His work, Christ spoke no word of direct reproof.

[Sidenote: _An Element of Antagonism_]

With Judas an element of antagonism was introduced among the disciples. In connecting himself with Jesus he had responded to the attraction of His character and life. He had sincerely desired a change in himself, and had hoped to experience this through a union with Jesus. But this desire did not become predominant. That which ruled him was the hope of selfish benefit in the worldly kingdom which he expected Christ to establish. Though recognizing the divine power of the love of Christ, Judas did not yield to its supremacy. He continued to cherish his own judgment and opinions, his disposition to criticize and condemn. Christ’s motives and movements, often so far above his comprehension, excited doubt and disapproval, and his own questionings and ambitions were insinuated to the disciples. Many of their contentions for supremacy, much of their dissatisfaction with Christ’s methods, originated with Judas.

[Sidenote: _Not Conflict, but Healing_]

Jesus, seeing that to antagonize was but to harden, refrained from direct conflict. The narrowing selfishness of Judas’ life, Christ sought to heal through contact with His own self-sacrificing love. In His teaching He unfolded principles that struck at the root of the disciple’s self-centered ambitions. Lesson after lesson was thus given, and many a time Judas realized that his character had been portrayed, and his sin pointed out; but he would not yield.

Mercy’s pleading resisted, the impulse of evil bore final sway. Judas, angered at an implied rebuke, and made desperate by the disappointment of his ambitious dreams, surrendered his soul to the demon of greed, and determined upon the betrayal of his Master. From the Passover chamber, the joy of Christ’s presence, and the light of immortal hope, he went forth to his evil work,—into the outer darkness, where hope was not.

[Sidenote: _Love Unfailing_]

“Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him.”[111] Yet, knowing all, He had withheld no pleading of mercy or gift of love.

Seeing the danger of Judas, He had brought him close to Himself, within the inner circle of His chosen and trusted disciples. Day after day, when the burden lay heaviest upon His own heart, He had borne the pain of continual contact with that stubborn, suspicious, brooding spirit; He had witnessed and labored to counteract among His disciples that continuous, secret, and subtle antagonism. And all this that no possible saving influence might be lacking to that imperiled soul!

“Many waters can not quench love,
Neither can the floods drown it;”
“For love is strong as death.”[112]

* * * * *

[Sidenote: _Warning to the Eleven_]

[Sidenote: _Goal of Worldly Wisdom_]

So far as Judas himself was concerned, Christ’s work of love had been without avail. But not so as regards his fellow-disciples. To them it was a lesson of lifelong influence. Ever would its example of tenderness and long-suffering mould their intercourse with the tempted and the erring. And it had other lessons. At the ordination of the twelve, the disciples had greatly desired that Judas should become one of their number; and they had counted his accession an event of much promise to the apostolic band. He had come more into contact with the world than they, he was a man of good address, of discernment and executive ability, and, having a high estimate of his own qualifications, he had led the disciples to hold him in the same regard. But the methods he desired to introduce into Christ’s work were based upon worldly principles and were controlled by worldly policy. They looked to the securing of worldly recognition and honor,—to the obtaining of the kingdom of this world. The working out of these desires in the life of Judas, helped the disciples to understand the antagonism between the principle of self-aggrandizement and Christ’s principle of humility and self-sacrifice,—the principle of the spiritual kingdom. In the fate of Judas they saw the end to which self-serving tends.

[Sidenote: _Results of Christ’s Training_]

For these disciples the mission of Christ finally accomplished its purpose. Little by little His example and His lessons of self-abnegation moulded their characters. His death destroyed their hope of worldly greatness. The fall of Peter, the apostasy of Judas, their own failure in forsaking Christ in His anguish and peril, swept away their self-sufficiency. They saw their own weakness; they saw something of the greatness of the work committed to them; they felt their need of their Master’s guidance at every step.

[Sidenote: _Self-Distrust_]

They knew that His personal presence was no longer to be with them, and they recognized, as they had never recognized before, the value of the opportunities that had been theirs to walk and talk with the Sent of God. Many of His lessons, when spoken, they had not appreciated or understood; now they longed to recall these lessons, to hear again His words. With what joy now came back to them His assurance:—

“It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him.” “All things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.” And “the Comforter ... whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”[113]

[Sidenote: _The Teacher of Truth_]

“All things that the Father hath are Mine.” “When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.... He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you.”[114]

The disciples had seen Christ ascend from among them on the Mount of Olives. And as the heavens received Him, there had come back to them His parting promise, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”[115]

[Sidenote: _Faith’s Assurance_]

They knew that His sympathies were with them still. They knew that they had a representative, an advocate, at the throne of God. In the name of Jesus they presented their petitions, repeating His promise, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you.”[116]

Higher and higher they extended the hand of faith, with the mighty argument, “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”[117]

Faithful to His promise, the Divine One, exalted in the heavenly courts, imparted of His fulness to His followers on earth. His enthronement at God’s right hand was signalized by the outpouring of the Spirit upon His disciples.

[Sidenote: _The Final Preparation_]

By the work of Christ these disciples had been led to feel their need of the Spirit; under the Spirit’s teaching they received their final preparation, and went forth to their life-work.

No longer were they ignorant and uncultured. No longer were they a collection of independent units or of discordant and conflicting elements. No longer were their hopes set on worldly greatness. They were of “one accord,” of “one mind and one soul.” Christ filled their thoughts. The advancement of His kingdom was their aim. In mind and character they had become like their Master; and men “took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”[118]

[Sidenote: _A Work That Shook the World_]

Then was there such a revelation of the glory of Christ as had never before been witnessed by mortal man. Multitudes who had reviled His name and despised His power confessed themselves disciples of the Crucified. Through the co-operation of the divine Spirit the labors of the humble men whom Christ had chosen, stirred the world. To every nation under heaven was the gospel carried in a single generation.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: “_I Am with You Alway_”]

The same Spirit that in His stead was sent to be the instructor of His first co-workers, Christ has commissioned to be the instructor of His co-workers to-day. “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,”[119] is His promise.

The presence of the same Guide in educational work to-day will produce the same results as of old. This is the end to which true education tends; this is the work that God designs it to accomplish.

NATURE TEACHING

“_Consider the wondrous works of Him
who is perfect in knowledge_”

_God in Nature_

“HIS GLORY COVERS THE HEAVENS;”
“AND THE EARTH IS FULL OF
HIS RICHES”

[Sidenote: _The Pervading Life_]

Upon all created things is seen the impress of the Deity. Nature testifies of God. The susceptible mind, brought in contact with the miracle and mystery of the universe, can not but recognize the working of infinite power. Not by its own inherent energy does the earth produce its bounties, and year by year continue its motion around the sun. An unseen hand guides the planets in their circuit of the heavens. A mysterious life pervades all nature,—a life that sustains the unnumbered worlds throughout immensity; that lives in the insect atom which floats in the summer breeze; that wings the flight of the swallow, and feeds the young ravens which cry; that brings the bud to blossom, and the flower to fruit.

[Sidenote: _Universality of Law_]

The same power that upholds nature, is working also in man. The same great laws that guide alike the star and the atom, control human life. The laws that govern the heart’s action, regulating the flow of the current of life to the body, are the laws of the mighty Intelligence that has the jurisdiction of the soul. From Him all life proceeds. Only in harmony with Him can be found its true sphere of action. For all the objects of His creation the condition is the same,—a life sustained by receiving the life of God, a life exercised in harmony with the Creator’s will. To transgress His law, physical, mental, or moral, is to place one’s self out of harmony with the universe, to introduce discord, anarchy, ruin.

[Sidenote: _Nature’s Witness_]

To him who learns thus to interpret its teachings, all nature becomes illuminated; the world is a lesson-book, life a school. The unity of man with nature and with God, the universal dominion of law, the results of transgression, can not fail of impressing the mind and moulding the character.

[Sidenote: _The Child’s Teacher_]

[Sidenote: _Opportunity for Nature Study_]

These are lessons that our children need to learn. To the little child, not yet capable of learning from the printed page or of being introduced to the routine of the schoolroom, nature presents an unfailing source of instruction and delight. The heart not yet hardened by contact with evil is quick to recognize the Presence that pervades all created things. The ear as yet undulled by the world’s clamor is attentive to the Voice that speaks through nature’s utterances. And for those of older years, needing continually its silent reminders of the spiritual and eternal, nature’s teaching will be no less a source of pleasure and of instruction. As the dwellers in Eden learned from nature’s pages, as Moses discerned God’s handwriting on the Arabian plains and mountains, and the Child Jesus on the hillsides of Nazareth, so the children of to-day may learn of Him. The unseen is illustrated by the seen. On everything upon the earth, from the loftiest tree of the forest to the lichen that clings to the rock, from the boundless ocean to the tiniest shell on the shore, they may behold the image and superscription of God.

So far as possible, let the child from his earliest years be placed where this wonderful lesson-book shall be open before him. Let him behold the glorious scenes painted by the great Master Artist upon the shifting canvas of the heavens, let him become acquainted with the wonders of earth and sea, let him watch the unfolding mysteries of the changing seasons, and, in all His works, learn of the Creator.

[Sidenote: _Antagonistic Forces_]

In no other way can the foundation of a true education be so firmly and surely laid. Yet even the child, as he comes in contact with nature, will see cause for perplexity. He can not but recognize the working of antagonistic forces. It is here that nature needs an interpreter. Looking upon the evil manifest even in the natural world, all have the same sorrowful lesson to learn,—“An enemy hath done this.”[120]

[Sidenote: _The Interpreter of Nature_]

Only in the light that shines from Calvary can nature’s teaching be read aright. Through the story of Bethlehem and the cross let it be shown how good is to conquer evil, and how every blessing that comes to us is a gift of redemption.

In brier and thorn, in thistle and tare, is represented the evil that blights and mars. In singing bird and opening blossom, in rain and sunshine, in summer breeze and gentle dew, in ten thousand objects in nature, from the oak of the forest to the violet that blossoms at its root, is seen the love that restores. And nature still speaks to us of God’s goodness.

[Sidenote: _Thoughts of Peace_]

“I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil.”[121] This is the message that, in the light from the cross, may be read upon all the face of nature. The heavens declare His glory, and the earth is full of His riches.

_Lessons of Life_

“SPEAK TO THE EARTH, AND
IT SHALL TEACH THEE”

[Sidenote: _Christ’s Object Teaching_]

The great Teacher brought His hearers in contact with nature, that they might listen to the voice which speaks in all created things; and as their hearts became tender and their minds receptive, He helped them to interpret the spiritual teaching of the scenes upon which their eyes rested. The parables, by means of which He loved to teach lessons of truth, show how open His spirit was to the influences of nature, and how He delighted to gather the spiritual teaching from the surroundings of daily life.

[Sidenote: _Adapted to Every Hearer_]

The birds of the air, the lilies of the field, the sower and the seed, the shepherd and the sheep,—with these Christ illustrated immortal truth. He drew illustrations also from the events of life, facts of experience familiar to the hearers,—the leaven, the hid treasure, the pearl, the fishing net, the lost coin, the prodigal son, the houses on the rock and the sand. In His lessons there was something to interest every mind, to appeal to every heart. Thus the daily task, instead of being a mere round of toil, bereft of higher thoughts, was brightened and uplifted by constant reminders of the spiritual and the unseen.

So we should teach. Let the children learn to see in nature an expression of the love and the wisdom of God; let the thought of Him be linked with bird and flower and tree; let all things seen become to them the interpreters of the unseen, and all the events of life be a means of divine teaching.

[Sidenote: _Unity of Law_]

As they learn thus to study the lessons in all created things, and in all life’s experiences, show that the same laws which govern the things of nature and the events of life are to control us; that they are given for our good; and that only in obedience to them can we find true happiness and success.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: _The Law of Ministry_]

All things both in heaven and in earth declare that the great law of life is a law of service. The infinite Father ministers to the life of every living thing. Christ came to the earth “as he that serveth.”[122] The angels are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.”[123] The same law of service is written upon all things in nature. The birds of the air, the beasts of the field, the trees of the forest, the leaves, the grass, and the flowers, the sun in the heavens and the stars of light,—all have their ministry. Lake and ocean, river and water-spring,—each takes to give.

[Sidenote: _Gaining by Giving_]

As each thing in nature ministers thus to the world’s life, it also secures its own. “Give, and it shall be given unto you,”[124] is the lesson written no less surely in nature than in the pages of Holy Writ.

As the hillsides and the plains open a channel for the mountain stream to reach the sea, that which they give is repaid a hundredfold. The stream that goes singing on its way leaves behind its gift of beauty and fruitfulness. Through the fields, bare and brown under the summer’s heat, a line of verdure marks the river’s course; every noble tree, every bud, every blossom, a witness to the recompense God’s grace decrees to all who become its channels to the world.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: _Laws of Growth_]

Of the almost innumerable lessons taught in the varied processes of growth, some of the most precious are conveyed in the Saviour’s parable of the growing seed. It has lessons for old and young.

“So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.”[125]

[Sidenote: _Divine Agency in Growth_]

The seed has in itself a germinating principle, a principle that God Himself has implanted; yet if left to itself the seed would have no power to spring up. Man has his part to act in promoting the growth of the grain; but there is a point beyond which he can accomplish nothing. He must depend upon One who has connected the sowing and the reaping by wonderful links of His own omnipotent power.

There is life in the seed, there is power in the soil; but unless infinite power is exercised day and night, the seed will yield no return. The showers of rain must refresh the thirsty fields; the sun must impart warmth; electricity must be conveyed to the buried seed. The life which the Creator has implanted, He alone can call forth. Every seed grows, every plant develops, by the power of God.

“The seed is the word of God.” “As the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth.”[126] As in the natural, so in the spiritual sowing; the power that alone can produce life is from God.

[Sidenote: _Sowing in Faith_]

The work of the sower is a work of faith. The mystery of the germination and growth of the seed he can not understand; but he has confidence in the agencies by which God causes vegetation to flourish. He casts away the seed, expecting to gather it many-fold in an abundant harvest. So parents and teachers are to labor, expecting a harvest from the seed they sow.

[Sidenote: _God’s Covenant for the Harvest_]

For a time the good seed may lie unnoticed in the heart, giving no evidence that it has taken root; but afterward, as the Spirit of God breathes on the soul, the hidden seed springs up, and at last brings forth fruit. In our life-work we know not which shall prosper, this or that. This question it is not for us to settle. “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand.”[127] God’s great covenant declares that “while the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest ... shall not cease.”[128] In the confidence of this promise the husbandman tills and sows. Not less confidently are we, in the spiritual sowing, to labor, trusting His assurance: “So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”[129]

The germination of the seed represents the beginning of spiritual life, and the development of the plant is a figure of the development of character. There can be no life without growth. The plant must either grow or die. As its growth is silent and imperceptible, but continuous, so is the growth of character. At every stage of development our life may be perfect; yet if God’s purpose for us is fulfilled, there will be constant advancement.

[Sidenote: _Conditions of Growth_]

The plant grows by receiving that which God has provided to sustain its life. So spiritual growth is attained through co-operation with divine agencies. As the plant takes root in the soil, so we are to take root in Christ. As the plant receives the sunshine, the dew, and the rain, so are we to receive the Holy Spirit. If our hearts are stayed upon Christ, He will come unto us “as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.” As the Sun of Righteousness, He will arise upon us “with healing in His wings.” We shall “grow as the lily.” We shall “revive as the corn, and grow as the vine.”[130]

[Sidenote: _Fruit-Bearing_]

The wheat develops, “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.”[131] The object of the husbandman in the sowing of the seed and the culture of the plant, is the production of grain,—bread for the hungry, and seed for future harvests. So the divine Husbandman looks for a harvest. He is seeking to reproduce Himself in the hearts and lives of His followers, that through them He may be reproduced in other hearts and lives.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: _A Lesson in Child-Training_]

[Sidenote: _Natural Development_]

The gradual development of the plant from the seed is an object-lesson in child-training. There is “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.”[131] He who gave this parable created the tiny seed, gave it its vital properties, and ordained the laws that govern its growth. And the truths taught by the parable were made a reality in His own life. He, the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, became a babe in Bethlehem, and for a time represented the helpless infant in its mother’s care. In childhood He spoke and acted as a child, honoring His parents, and carrying out their wishes in helpful ways. But from the first dawning of intelligence He was constantly growing in grace and in a knowledge of truth.

Parents and teachers should aim so to cultivate the tendencies of the youth that at each stage of life they may represent the beauty appropriate to that period, unfolding naturally, as do the plants in the garden.

[Sidenote: _Simplicity_]

The little ones should be educated in childlike simplicity. They should be trained to be content with the small, helpful duties and the pleasures and experiences natural to their years. Childhood answers to the blade in the parable, and the blade has a beauty peculiarly its own. Children should not be forced into a precocious maturity, but as long as possible should retain the freshness and grace of their early years. The more quiet and simple the life of the child,—the more free from artificial excitement and the more in harmony with nature,—the more favorable it is to physical and mental vigor and to spiritual strength.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: _The Miracle of the Harvest_]

In the Saviour’s miracle of feeding the five thousand is illustrated the working of God’s power in the production of the harvest. Jesus draws aside the veil from the world of nature, and reveals the creative energy that is constantly exercised for our good. In multiplying the seed cast into the ground, He who multiplied the loaves is working a miracle every day. It is by a miracle that He constantly feeds millions from earth’s harvest-fields. Men are called upon to co-operate with Him in the care of the grain and the preparation of the loaf, and because of this they lose sight of the divine agency. The working of His power is ascribed to natural causes or to human instrumentality, and too often His gifts are perverted to selfish uses, and made a curse instead of a blessing. God is seeking to change all this. He desires that our dull senses shall be quickened to discern His merciful kindness, that His gifts may be to us the blessing that He intended.

[Sidenote: _Partakers of the Life of God_]

It is the word of God, the impartation of His life, that gives life to the seed; and of that life, we, in eating the grain, become partakers. This God desires us to discern; He desires that even in receiving our daily bread we may recognize His agency, and may be brought into closer fellowship with Him.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: _We Reap What We Sow_]

[Sidenote: _Life’s Harvest, Character_]

By the laws of God in nature, effect follows cause with unvarying certainty. The reaping testifies to the sowing. Here no pretense is tolerated. Men may deceive their fellow-men, and may receive praise and compensation for service which they have not rendered. But in nature there can be no deception. On the unfaithful husbandman the harvest passes sentence of condemnation. And in the highest sense this is true also in the spiritual realm. It is in appearance, not in reality, that evil succeeds. The child who plays truant from school, the youth who is slothful in his studies, the clerk or apprentice who fails of serving the interests of his employer, the man in any business or profession who is untrue to his highest responsibilities, may flatter himself that, so long as the wrong is concealed, he is gaining an advantage. But not so; he is cheating himself. The harvest of life is character, and it is this that determines destiny, both for this life and for the life to come.

The harvest is a reproduction of the seed sown. Every seed yields fruit “after its kind.” So it is with the traits of character we cherish. Selfishness, self-love, self-esteem, self-indulgence, reproduce themselves, and the end is wretchedness and ruin. “He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”[132] Love, sympathy, and kindness yield fruitage of blessing, a harvest that is imperishable.

[Sidenote: _Increase from Sowing_]

In the harvest the seed is multiplied. A single grain of wheat, increased by repeated sowings, would cover a whole land with golden sheaves. So widespread may be the influence of a single life, of even a single act.

What deeds of love the memory of that alabaster box broken for Christ’s anointing has through the long centuries prompted! What countless gifts that contribution, by a poor unnamed widow, of “two mites, which make a farthing,”[133] has brought to the Saviour’s cause!

* * * * *

[Sidenote: “_Freely Give_”]

The lesson of seed-sowing teaches liberality. “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”[134]

The Lord says, “Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters.”[135] To sow beside all waters means to give wherever our help is needed. This will not tend to poverty. “He which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” By casting it away the sower multiplies his seed. So by imparting we increase our blessings. God’s promise assures a sufficiency, that we may continue to give.

More than this: as we impart the blessings of this life, gratitude in the recipient prepares the heart to receive spiritual truth, and a harvest is produced unto life everlasting.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: _Life through Death_]

By the casting of grain into the earth, the Saviour represents His sacrifice for us. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,” He says, “it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”[136] Only through the sacrifice of Christ, the Seed, could fruit be brought forth for the kingdom of God. In accordance with the law of the vegetable kingdom, life is the result of His death.

So with all who bring forth fruit as workers together with Christ: self-love, self-interest, must perish; the life must be cast into the furrow of the world’s need. But the law of self-sacrifice is the law of self-preservation. The husbandman preserves his grain by casting it away. So the life that will be preserved is the life that is freely given in service to God and man.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: _A Symbol of the Resurrection_]

The seed dies, to spring forth into new life. In this we are taught the lesson of the resurrection. Of the human body laid away to moulder in the grave, God has said: “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.”[137]

[Sidenote: _Nature Study Made Practical_]

As parents and teachers try to teach these lessons, the work should be made practical. Let the children themselves prepare the soil and sow the seed. As they work, the parent or teacher can explain the garden of the heart, with the good or bad seed sown there, and that as the garden must be prepared for the natural seed, so the heart must be prepared for the seed of truth. As the seed is cast into the ground, they can teach the lesson of Christ’s death; and as the blade springs up, the truth of the resurrection. As the plant grows, the correspondence between the natural and the spiritual sowing may be continued.