DIVINE REGULATION
[p. 212] DIVINE REGULATION
Luke 5: 3 - 11; Luke 19: 1 - 10; Luke 9: 12 - 17
I think we shall see in the scriptures we have read that there is divine regulation, a subject that the evangelist Luke expresses having in view the order that is becoming to the people of God. For divine order cannot be seen in us save as we are subject to divine regulation; nothing is more foreign to God than independency, that is, in man.
We see in the physical systems around us how everything is regulated by law, and therefore you have order and benefit to man. Apart from the recognition of order or divine regulation, there must be catastrophe, of which we have indeed evidences from time to time in physical things, but, alas, much more in moral things, for it is the moral things that man has to handle. He could do little or nothing to interfere with the great bodies which God has created for his benefit, even as to the earth itself upon which he is, his power of interference is small, but in the moral things that God has introduced here, man has had a great deal to say, and catastrophe after catastrophe have ensued.
But the Lord came into this world as the poor wise man in Ecclesiastes, in order to deliver the little city, for the things that God had introduced for the regulation of man in the way of systems had become reduced and were apparently at the mercy of the enemy, for it says that a great king came against the little city and built bulwarks against it, but there was in that city a poor wise man who, by his wisdom, delivered the city. It is in the gospel of Luke that we get the poor wise man particularly, although he is that throughout the New Testament; in this gospel we have Christ come in lowliness and obscurity, but [p. 213] presently the action of wisdom became evident, and consequently the sure deliverance of the city from the attack. So I feel encouraged, beloved brethren, to call attention to Luke from the standpoint of divine guidance and direction and regulation, for obviously the principles which God introduced are for man; they are to be wrought out by man. For as by man came lawlessness, so by man came resurrection of the dead and righteousness, and the setting out of divine regulation, and all that came in in Christ, who was subject to God in every detail, growing up before Him as a tender plant, increasing, as we are told, in favour with God and man, so that when He reached the age of thirty the voice out of heaven says, “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight”, Luke 3: 22. He answered to God and the Holy Spirit came upon Him in a bodily form as a dove — a bodily form. It abode upon Him so that now He was here in a public way for ministry; to effect, so to say, the deliverance of the little city.
This must be worked out in man, and so you find in Luke that great stress is laid upon faith. Zacharias was in every way blameless, he and his wife Elizabeth, and trustworthy as to their walk; he, too, conformed to the outward regulation of the priesthood, serving in his order, yet he was unbelieving. So that we may be outwardly regulated apparently, and yet inwardly unbelieving. As Gabriel therefore comes to him and announces to him that he is to have a son according to his prayer and supplications, he cannot believe the glad message. He was unbelieving, and so was rendered dumb for a season until the answer should come to his prayer. We are thus reminded in the beginning of Luke that for the working out of divine principles in us there must be faith.
The regulation is of a moral kind, and comes as a result of the subjection of the heart in faith, so Paul says, “Ye ... have obeyed from the heart the form of teaching” (Romans 6: 17); teaching, then, beloved, affects the heart. Zacharias was dumb until the child was born, John the baptist, as we speak of him, but then he opens his mouth and blesses God. He is now a priest by faith; he is a believer. That, standing at the beginning of the gospel, reminds us that everything in this dispensation is on the principle of faith, and not on the principle of sight, and whilst it is the great gospel of prayer, prayer must be in faith or it is ineffective.
The Lord, I believe, begins this service of divine regulation in Peter, and so He enters into his house, as in chapter 4, but as far as the record goes Peter got no help from the visit, although the gain came to his wife’s mother, a great advantage to him doubtless, making things easier for him in his house, and God may make things easier for you, yet it may not touch you yourself.
It was a very striking sign, the restoration of Peter’s wife’s mother, but there is nothing said about the effect of it on Peter, and yet there cannot be a doubt that the Lord had Peter especially in His mind in going into his house. We are not told that He was invited in; it would appear to be an act of the Lord, for He knew what a great servant Peter was to be, but there is nothing said as to the effect of it in Simon, and so the next movement of the Lord is in relation to Peter’s business. It may be that he was more interested in his business affairs than he was in his house. It is often the case with us, and we may well be reminded of the danger of excessive attention to business and neglect of our houses. What you look for in a christian is balance. The Lord had not yet approached Peter in his business relations. He now entered into Peter’s boat, we are told. It was not accidental; it was not, the only boat there, but it was the one the Lord selected. He had Peter in [p. 215] His mind; much was to be worked out in this man; the Lord knew what He was doing and so He asked Peter to move the boat out into the water. It was not a command; it was not an order; it was a request. The Lord is extremely tender with us in all His dealings; He would avoid wounding unless a wound is necessary, and so He asks Peter that he would draw out into the water, and then He speaks from that boat. This was an immense advantage for Peter, and yet it does not appear that he was in any way affected. He had failed to be affected both in his house and in his boat, but when the Lord finishes, He addresses Peter. He does not ask him now; He directs him to launch out, as you will observe. He says, “Draw out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a haul”. He is coming near now to Peter’s soul, and in the perfection of His service to every one of us He knows just when to do the thing that is necessary. There is never a bow shot at a venture with the Lord; the aim is always taken, and the object reached; so that He directs at the right moment. Instead of asking, it is now a question of testing.
Peter says to Him, “having laboured through the whole night we have taken nothing”, that is, he was doubtful. The Lord had said, “Draw out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a haul”. There is no hesitancy in these words; they are most direct words, and this is divine direction, but Peter is doubtful. But in his doubtfulness he is submissive. He says, “but at thy word I will let down the net”. Thank God, Peter is saved! Not actually saved yet but potentially saved. He is obedient, “at thy word I will let down the net”. That was all the Lord asked him to do; He did not appeal to him for confidence; He only directed him to do that one thing, and he did it.
Now perhaps there is someone here lacking in that [p. 216] thing. Peter did it! His feelings had nothing to do with the result; the result was not to be through his feelings; he made it perfectly plain what his feelings were, but they had nothing to do with the result of obedience. You see there is the question of the power of God coming in; whatever it is that is confronting you, whatever your feelings, if the word is plain to you, obey and you will be regulated. Peter is now under divine regulation. See the result — the great draught of fishes. Now it was a partnership, and there was another boat in the partnership and other men also. Possibly they had never had a better day’s business than that under divine direction. You may be sure of it, beloved, that by simple obedience to the word, whatever it refers to, there will be prosperity, for the power of God goes with the word. Well, now it became the occasion of light entering into Peter’s soul, for the fishes were a detail after all.
Peter was in the Lord’s eye, as you are and as I am, and we are told that he fell down at Jesus’ knees; now that is the result of submitting to divine regulation. The Lord did not tell him to do that. You see the effect of light in the soul so that you move in the light that comes into it, but there is no light in your soul until you learn to obey. The light in the soul becomes operative. “But at thy word I will let down the net” is submission to what is precursory to the light coming into the soul, and in that light Peter moved. He fell down at Jesus’ knees; at His knees! That was a matter of instinct; it was perhaps the first definite spiritual movement in Peter. It is not a question now of intelligence, but of instinct, for instinct led him to fall down at His knees. His spiritual history is beginning, the history that stands out in Scripture by itself, and now comes the adjustment.
I speak of this one point in relation to our households [p. 217] and businesses. The Lord teaches us where He can be effective, and so instead of Peter being affected by the prosperity of the movement, he draws the ships to shore and leaves all. He is settled in regard to his business; it will not hinder him permanently again. Later he did come back but he would not be permanently hindered by his business again. It says that he had the word from the Lord that he was to be a fisher of men. You see the gain of coming under divine regulation, and the irreparable loss in refusing it. Had Peter refused to act upon the word of the Lord he would have been irretrievably lost, but he obeyed.
Well now I wish to carry this thought on to Zacchaeus, for it is in him you see the regulation of the Lord as entering into his house. It does not appear, as I said, that Peter was affected when the Lord entered his house, but when Jesus entered into the house of Zacchaeus (and we need our houses regulated, for if we are to be in the assembly right our houses must be right) he was affected.
So we are told that the Lord passed through Jericho; He entered it and passed through it. What thoughts were in His mind as He entered that city and passed through it? He would remember Rahab; what spiritual history was connected with that city! Nothing would be omitted in the Lord’s mind as He passed through it. It had been subjected to a curse, as you will remember, and he that rebuilt it had suffered the penalty. He entered it and passed through it, and Zacchaeus appeared. He was the chief tax-gatherer, he was rich, but we are reminded here that God is no respecter of persons, for in the assembly “the rich and poor meet together; Jehovah is the maker of them all”. It is a great triumph that the rich man is brought in and his riches are devoted to the interests of God. They are not to be despised, as we see in the case of Barnabas, and the man [p. 218] himself we see at Antioch. Zacchaeus is said to be rich but his riches do not add anything to him morally, nor do they ever. At best they could only be a sacrifice of a lower kind. Zacchaeus was a big man in the community, doubtless, for money always gives you a stature there, whatever your character. But when it comes to Christ and getting a view of Christ he was small in stature and could not see the Lord as the others did. Others were taller than he, but nevertheless he was genuine although little, and so he desired to see the Lord, who He was. A very worthy motive. Not mere curiosity; it was a genuine desire to see the Lord, who He was; a desire one would be glad to see in anyone. The Person is being attacked everywhere, so it is a worthy motive to see the Lord, who He is. Zacchaeus rose up then, and climbed into a sycamore tree. In other words, although he had a worthy motive he is unregulated; it was not in keeping with the position that he should be up in the tree when the Lord was on the road. It was unworthy of him to be up in the tree, for had he remained on the earth the Lord would not have had to look up to him. He was little in stature; he was taking advantage of circumstances to elevate himself, and it is so sometimes with the rich. Rich people know that they have an advantage according to man, and they assume it enters into the house of God, but it does not! All circumstances shall be removed; a tree can easily be removed but the tree was not removed here; Zacchaeus was removed, and that was to his credit. How was he removed? It was by word of the Lord; he was capable of being removed by the word of the Lord. Now how does that come to you in your circumstances? He would say, “make haste and come down” and He adds to it an incentive, “today”, He said, “I must abide at thy house”. “I am coming to remain in it”. He was a man of small stature, but as He says to Nathaniel,
“[p. 219] when thou wart under the fig tree, I saw thee”. Zacchaeus would see the Lord in his house; what an advantage to have the Lord in your house! He says later that “salvation is come to this house”.
Whatever your motive, whatever your desire, submit to the word of the Lord, and make haste and do it. He made haste and came down. Well, this brings in persecution, for you may be sure that as you give Christ a place and as He associates Himself with you, others will complain, and that is what happened here. You see it will at once cost you persecution if you come under divine guidance. Make haste and do it; immediately he does it, there is complaint. The Lord indeed is complained against. Zacchaeus was a tax-gatherer, should the Lord be in such a house as his? Now Zacchaeus stands up and says “Lord”. Ah, what a fine title that is! How much do we say ‘Lord’? In 1 Corinthians 12: 3 it says, “no one can say, Lord Jesus, unless in the power of the Holy Spirit”; and so Zacchaeus is confessing the Lord. He says, “Lord”.
It was as much as to say, ‘I have got to answer to You now in regard to this money I have’. He is coming under divine regulation. He was reputed to be rich, but now he has to answer to the Lord with regard to it, and he says, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor”. Well, that is not a small amount, even for a rich man. It is well to measure ourselves with persons that Scripture presents to us. Now he says, “and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I return him fourfold”. That was a good return, a liberal return, and the Lord says, “This day is salvation come to this house”. He is a saved man, and his house is saved. He is regulated by the Lord; salvation is of the Lord; it is an acknowledgment that one is saved, and one’s house. “Inasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham”. He is now a noble; he is brought into the family of [p. 220] faith; he is owned to be that by the Lord. There is no family like it. He had riches, but riches do not give you family status, for the Lord gives him this indeed. He is a son of Abraham. Where is there status like that? There is none.
Well, all that, beloved, is by coming under divine regulation; and now the final thought that I had was in chapter 9. This has reference to collective regulation, for it is obvious that we are to be regulated personally in our businesses and our houses if we are to have a portion in the assembly, and so in chapter 9 what you find is that the twelve introduced this subject, the feeding of the five thousand. The twelve were those who were specially selected to be His administrators on earth; those who were known to have part in the Lord’s service. Well, they take account of the multitude; what are they going to do? Instead of taking up their responsibility as the twelve, they are shirking it. They are putting it on to the Lord. We must never do this! He loves to see us do the thing rather than put it on to Him. He says nothing about it; they put it on to Him although what was to be done was perfectly plain. Is it not often so locally that what is to be done is perfectly plain, but we put it off? He will be with you if it is according to His mind. They would be belying His character by sending them away hungry. They had been with Him long enough to know that He would not do that; they had seen Him do things and now comes the word that they should do it. Then why not do it? God says to Moses, “Why dost thou cry unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward”, Exodus 14: 15. If the thing is plain, then do it, and so it is here, the twelve address the Lord and He says to them, “Give ye them to eat”. What a test! They had just been talking to Him about the wonderful things they had done; now He says to them, “Give ye them to eat”. They had [p. 221] not much means to do it; they said nothing about the little boy and did not make mention of what they had, but what I want to come to is the division into companies.
This is also mentioned in Matthew but not so specifically; Luke mentions only one number — in companies of fifty. Well, you say, ‘What has that to do with food?’ It is the Lord’s direction and that is what I am at. There can be no questioning the Lord’s directions; any disregard must be to our loss and the loss of the saints. They do it. That is very fine, for here His direction is accepted and carried out. In other directions they had utterly failed, to their loss. He would praise us for anything that we do that is right, but what about the things that are not done? Well, here is specific direction. They are to make them sit down in companies of fifty, and they did it, and then He takes the fishes and the loaves and in the sight of these companies He lifts up His eyes to heaven and blesses them and breaks and hands them to His disciples, and they hand them to the multitude. All were filled and there were left over twelve baskets full. You can tell how many companies there were: divide five thousand by fifty. That is the result of coming under divine regulation; the need is met. It is a very important side of the truth, that is, the food question. If there is to be food there must be regard for divine regulation, and then food comes in abundance. There are twelve full baskets left over.
Well may the Lord help us every one to adhere to divine regulation. There are hundreds of those who have neglected this and have turned aside from the Lord, but as He says, “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me”, John 14: 21. Let none flout His commandments. He says, therefore, “he that loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him”, John 14: 21. So you get fresh thoughts of Christ in the manifestation, but in regard to divine regulation you get no freshness and no ministry unless you keep His commandments, so may the Lord help us to keep the directions, for His name’s sake.