GOD'S WAYS WITH MAN
GOD’S WAYS WITH MAN
1 Samuel 15: 12 - 23; 1 Samuel 24: 4 - 7; 2 Samuel 1: 6 - 16; Hebrews 1: 8, 9
My object in reading these passages was to illustrate principles in the dealings of God with man. In the verse read from Hebrews you get the two principles — righteousness and lawlessness. The place Christ has in relation to His “fellows” is really the result of the great question of righteousness and lawlessness being brought to an issue. In Old Testament times there might be a question as to the pathway of a godly person; not so now, everything is clearly and definitely defined, and therefore the path of Christ is our path, to love righteousness and hate lawlessness.
We are become fellows of Christ; our practice must then be according to Him, and that way is loving righteousness and hating lawlessness, and the power has come in to enable us to refuse the one and to practise the other. We thus manifest that we are the children of God by our practising righteousness. When God created man there was no such thing as lawlessness; when it came in, then, as a result, death followed and hatred too; Cain hated his brother. It may be covered up in society, but underneath all you may be sure there is hatred.
We get these two principles illustrated in Saul and David. Saul was a distinguished man after the flesh, and in the beginning Saul shewed his prowess; he was distinguished as a man. What we find in David is that whenever he was in a crisis righteousness prevailed. With Saul, when he was in a crisis we find that the opposite came out. Saul had to wait for Samuel seven days, and he was lawless and did not wait. What the prophet said to Saul was the word of God to him, and Saul did not wait for the word of the Lord; the fear of man was before him and that brings a snare.
Next we see that Saul was ordered to destroy the [p. 270] Amalekites; he did not do so — he spared them — the favour of man was before him; in both cases he was lawless. These two things are prone to govern us, the fear and the favour of man, and if we yield to their influences we shall be marked by lawlessness. Any one who has had experience of the world knows how we are tested either by the fear or the favour of man, and if you yield you become lawless. Saul had direction from the Lord; so that to act by the fear or the favour of man was to be lawless, and it is a shocking thing to be lawless. Some would say that he did not do anything gross, but we must not be biased by anything of the fear or the favour of man. Saul lost the kingdom; he was lawless; God does not allow the kingdom to a lawless man.
In David you get a righteous man; in the two passages read you find the righteousness of David; to cut off a piece of Saul’s skirt was to do dishonour to the Lord’s anointed. I do not know if the Amalekite really slew Saul, but if he did it was very remarkable, because Saul had spared Amalek; but as for David he had the Amalekite slain because of the dishonour done by him to the Lord’s anointed, and David shewed thus his allegiance to the Lord’s anointed.
David would not touch the Lord’s anointed, Saul, and this was righteousness, that is, fidelity in every relationship as regards God and man in which he was placed. David therefore had the Amalekite slain. Saul was never governed by any other principle but lawlessness; he was governed either by the fear or the favour of man. No man really has what is called free will, for man has a conscience; no man works entirely apart from other men; we are greatly influenced by the fear or the favour of man.
Now we turn to a greater than David. In Hebrews 1 we read, “A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom”. In Christ we get the perfect solution of these two — lawlessness and righteousness; His righteousness was to do the will of God. He was here as the vessel of mercy to man; mercy is in the right of God and God [p. 271] was with Him in the expression of His mercy to man. His was a straight path of righteousness from beginning to end. Christ did what He heard: “as I hear I judge;” so also in His works He fulfilled all righteousness.
Another thing, He was not affected by the fear or favour of man. His brethren said, “If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world”. He said, “My time is not yet come”; no fear and no favour influenced Him and yet He was ever serving man perfectly; He came as the true Neighbour to man. He was entirely apart from fear or favour, and on the other hand He was the complete expression of the mercy of God. He went right on to the cross, not turned aside either by the fear or favour of man, but He was also the expression of the mercy and goodness of God. He offended men’s sensibilities constantly, He would not accommodate Himself at all to man’s thoughts; He could eat with publicans and sinners in spite of the complaints of scribes and Pharisees, and why? Because the publicans and sinners had need of mercy. The result is that He is anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows; He is the Head and centre of the company, and that because of His own perfections, His moral excellence in loving righteousness and hating iniquity; we have to give Him the place of superiority.
The line between righteousness and lawlessness is clearly marked out in the path of Christ, so He is anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows; the fellows too are anointed; we can say, we are privileged to say, We are His companions — the house of God is down here.
We are brought into the place of companions of Christ, and what is the effect? We get all impulse from Christ, we are indebted to Him for all impulse; if we get love in His circle we get it in Christ. The great weakness at the present time is that so many do not recognise His circle. We find love there and gladness prevailing. He gives the impulse to both these. He is pre-eminent; there too we discern between good and evil: “have their [p. 272] senses exercised to discern both good and evil”; we are not influenced by the fear or favour of man — these two are very dangerous to a saint.
We want to be controlled by the word of God, that is, by Christ. We want to have the appreciation of Christ, that is the way. He loved righteousness and He hated lawlessness, and we appreciate these things in Him. It is not imitation that will do it, it is appreciation of Christ, and that leads to affection; then we seek to walk in His path. We must not yield to the lawlessness that is in the world; the path is clearly marked out for us, for He loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. We shall follow in Christ’s path as we appreciate Him, and then we shall be more truly His companions.