Philip Bennett
"Guide me in Your truth and teach me!" Psalm 25:5
"Teach me Your way, O Lord, I will walk in Your truth." Psalm 86:11
The men of the world are steeped in ignorance as regards all things belonging to God, and the spiritual life. The world lies in darkness; it loves darkness; it cannot comprehend any other conditions, but that of darkness; and it will not come to the light because its deeds are evil. Nor was the condition of the world changed by the coming of our Lord; it rolls on in darkness now, just as it did when He was upon the earth. And so it will continue to roll on—until He appears again in light and glory, when the light shall overcome the darkness, and that, when it is thicker and denser than ever it was before.
It is true, we have daily displayed before us the increasing knowledge of man—but knowledge is one thing, and true wisdom is another, and the world by its wisdom knows not God.
With all man’s increase in knowledge, it is really astounding how little he has increased in practical wisdom. The pages of history seem to have taught him but little; the experiences of others seem to be thrown away on him. In kingdoms, societies, and the individual circles of men’s daily life—we see the same old faults and follies renewed again and again. If we strip these of the adventitious circumstances connected with them, we shall find how little variety there is in sin.
If the people of the world continue thus ignorant in those things which come so easily within their comprehension, which come so frequently under their observation, and in which their own visible interests are concerned —is it any wonder that they are ignorant of the things of God, of His ways, of His laws, of His mind, of the fact that God sees not as man sees, that His ways are not as our ways, nor His thoughts as our thoughts?
The wonder is, not that we were ignorant—but that we were ever made wise; and the wonder is dispelled, only by our seeing that this was done by the immediate working of the Spirit.
There is no point on which the world is more dark—than that of its own ignorance. We might truly say, "it is ignorant of its ignorance" —it knows enough when it learns by rote a few first principles of religion; it comforts itself that it is not atheistic because it believes that there is a God; but as to knowing His ways, laws, mind, or any such things—with them it has nothing at all to do.
The people of the world do not care for enlightenment; they feel no pressing need for it; in all probability they have an instinctive feeling that if enlightened they would know a little more than they wish to know; that their newly acquired knowledge would interfere with their old habits and ways, and this is one reason why all spiritual teaching which goes beneath the surface, is distasteful to the majority of men. They cannot bear to be brought into contact with God, in anything but a general way; the particulars of His character do not agree—with the particulars of their lives! "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." John 3:19
It is the fashion in the present day to talk of man’s enlightenment, and to represent human nature as upheaving under its load, as straining towards a knowledge of truth. Such is not in reality the case, and wherever there is an effort in the mind untaught of the Spirit, it is directed towards God as the great moral Being, and not as the great spiritual Being. A man untaught of the Holy Spirit may long to know a moral God—but he never can desire to know a spiritual Being.
Dear reader, cease to wonder that spiritual truth has made so little progress in the world, rather wonder that it has made so much; marvel not that so few know anything of God, rather marvel that even so many are found, who say, "Teach me Your way, O Lord."
The idea, then, of those whom we are accustomed to call "good people" in the world, is that when they recognize the existence of God—that they do enough; when they acknowledge His moral government, no more can be required.
The ideas of God’s true people on these points are, however, very different. In the first place, they feel that they can neither know nor desire God’s way by themselves. This they have been taught by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has made them feel that the natural bent of their minds was away from God; they have even detected their minds in the very act of loathing divine things; they have felt themselves vile and wicked, in their distaste to all that is spiritual; but with all this knowledge they could make no advance, the truth being, that they had still the carnal heart, which, no matter what it knows or feels, is, and must be, "enmity against God."
Dear reader, your own experience may doubtless be appealed to on this subject. "Was there not a time when you felt no desire to know more of God, of His laws, and ways—than you had learned in the ordinary teaching, which you received perhaps as a child? That sufficed for you; and if from time to time you saw some glimmering of light, it was just enough to make your darkness visible—but you did not care to come to the light, nor that that light should grow stronger, revealing more and more of God.
The retrospect of such a season as this, makes the believer see distinctly how completely he is a debtor to grace; he says, "had I been left to myself, I would never have sought the Lord; never could I have had a yearning of heart for spiritual views of God! I remember mydistaste to divine things too well, to deceive myself by supposing that I have grown into spiritual desires, or that I have struggled into them, or worked myself up to them, or have had the smallest part in procuring them for myself."
