GUIDANCE

^[p. 357] GUIDANCE

Matthew 2: 1 - 12; Luke 2: 8 - 16; John 8: 12

In reading these scriptures I am thinking about guidance; they furnish instruction under this head, instruction that is needed particularly as the darkness thickens. Apart from the guidance indicated in these passages and others like them, we would miss our way and the favour of the present provision that God has made for His people, if not His purpose. We have to distinguish between the purpose of God “the eternal purpose”, as it is said — and His present provision, but for both we need guidance. I selected Matthew first because he introduces the subject in connection with what we may call the learned class, those occupying a more elevated position in human society, for God is no respecter of persons and He has the same light for all.

But the guidance is from heaven; it is not the outcome of human culture or learning or study, it is furnished from heaven, for however much men may discover and read in the heavens, they have not put anything there. What is there is placed there of God, and so we find that there was a star called “his star”. A light had been furnished according to the circumstances of those who were to be enlightened. God deigns to take account of our circumstances, and to meet us as we are, and to furnish light through that which we most readily understand. These wise men, as they are called, were accustomed to reading the heavens in their profession, and the shepherds were accustomed to the sheep and the countryside in their daily calling, and God gave each light according to their circumstances. We may be sure that if light be needed, the guidance is there, and it is there within our range; it is placed within our range ^[p. 358] according to our intelligence and understanding so as to leave us without excuse; so the star appeared to these wise men.

Whether others saw it I know not. There is no evidence that it was specially for a few; it “was appearing” and God furnished it, so much so that it was known by these men as the star of the King; it was “his star”. There was no question in their minds, and so assured were they that it was “his star” that they came in the direction it indicated to see Him. It was no mere curiosity; they came to worship Him, and they came devoid of all national feeling or prejudice. What tends to darken many is local or district feeling. But a star has nothing to do with those matters. A star is heavenly and its bearing is general, and so, those who followed the light it furnished recognised the “King of the Jews”; they said nothing about the Son of man but spoke of Him “that is born King of the Jews”.

Well now, I just mention these things in a practical way, but I wish to show you how we may be diverted even though we may start out aright under heavenly guidance, for Christ must be ever the object of heaven’s indications. As we see here, heaven was occupied with Him and all the light furnished from heaven had Him as its object. A sign had been brought in for men — for the nation as in Matthew, for men as in Luke, for the family of God as in John. A sign had been brought in and so the light furnished has that blessed centre in view. So these men found their way, as being guided by the light, to Jerusalem.

Now, a remarkable situation existed there, such as christians have to do with in moving with the light. There is the official class and they have influence. You will observe the tidings brought by the wise men caused trouble to Herod and that the trouble extended; as we read, “and all Jerusalem with him”, showing that when evil is active, although there may be local ^[p. 359] feeling and prejudice against the ruling and official class, yet all that is submerged and the ruler’s feelings prevail. It is remarkable at the present time that the official classes are coming specially under influences of opinion and their influence is prevalent. Why should they be troubled in regard to such a movement, a movement of worshippers — men affected purely by the light of heaven and governed exclusively by that light. They had moved in it, and yet it causes trouble to Herod and to all Jerusalem with him. Then another feature comes out; this official class recognised the Scriptures in a way. Herod gathers together, as we are told, all the chief priests and the scribes; they are all at his call, and he enquires of them where the Christ should be born. You see how Scripture may become a blind as used by ungodly persons or those in an official position. We have to be on our guard, for how deceptive this was! Herod pretended to be governed by the dictates of Scripture. “Go”, he says, “search out accurately concerning the child, and when ye shall have found him bring me back word, so that I also may come and do him homage”.

So the wise men moved toward Bethlehem. Divine light will not lead you in the way of the official class. There is no evidence that the star had led them to Jerusalem. We may learn from that how easily we slip off the divine highway, indicated by the heavenly light, by recognising what is historical, the position of Jerusalem. Heaven furnished the light, not Jerusalem. Matthew always makes a point of discrediting Jerusalem. If we are to be rightly in the assembly, we must read Matthew for he delivers us from what is traditional, from what has historical reputation, whether national or otherwise. He always emphasises heaven as taking precedence of earth and that light comes from heaven. So that as they moved towards Bethlehem the star went before them, and ^[p. 360] when they saw it they rejoiced with exceeding great joy as it stood over the place where the little Child was.

It may be there are those here who need such guidance. You love the Lord and the light of the Lord has come into your heart. As with the magi, the light may not be great but it involves that He was born, and that He was born King. So they sought Him, and as the star was over the place where the little Child was, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. It moves one to dwell on the fact of the work of God, for it was a sovereign act of God that He should intervene in this way, for could He not make a star that should suggest Christ? Why should He not make a star and cause it to appear so that it should suggest Christ to us? But it was”his star”, and these wise men discerned it; they had no question about it, and they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

We may thank God we can get clear, even for a moment, of the official religious class. The wise men are out of the range of that class; they are away from them, and they are occupied with the King of the Jews. How different from Herod! The King of the Jews, but He is still a little Child, and they find Him in the house. It is all on a dignified plane in Matthew; it is not a manger but a house with Mary His mother. The little Child comes first, the mother comes second, whereas in Luke the shepherds find Joseph and Mary, but the wise men find the little Child and its mother, and having opened their treasures, they present to Him gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

I just dwell on these details, but what I want to come to particularly is this, that they depart to their own country another way. If you are clear of Herod, do not go back there; whatever you do, whatever way you take, do not go back that way. Now, that other way is left to you. It is not that your will is to come in and to choose one of your own, but the point is it is “another way”. Many, alas! having got clear of Herod and Jerusalem, have gone back there. The other way is the way of faith. The word is ever, “Woe unto you”. Woe unto you, towards officialism, towards the recognition of the religious order, towards Jerusalem. We are emphatically warned not to go that way. May God preserve us, dear brethren, enabling us to take the other way, that is to say, the spiritual way. The idea of the other way is found throughout Scripture. I refer particularly to Rahab; she illustrates it strikingly from James’ point of view. She received the messengers, we are told. We have been noting the idea today of reception, and the reception of the messengers by Rahab is a striking illustration of the principle. She received the messengers, it is said. They were not spies in that respect, according to James; they were messengers; they represented Joshua, and Joshua represented God and the mind of God. There are such today, and we ought not to leave out or ignore the great principles of God, the principle of representation, the principle of a messenger, of one bearing tidings or trusts. They were like that, they were messengers and Rahab received them and concealed them with the stalks of flax which she had laid out on the roof to dry; that is to say, as over against her previous history, she was beginning to be spiritual. This flax was not spun or woven, it was in the making, it was spread out to be dried, but it was sufficient to conceal the messengers. Hiding is a great principle spiritually, but what I refer to is that she sent them forth another way. The way of God is not the ordinary way, the way of God is another way, not one, however, that leaves room for our wills or independency. It means it is not the natural human way, it is the way of faith. And so these wise men escaped the influence of Herod and they departed into their own country another way.

^[p. 362] I go on now to Luke for another view of this great subject, and what we find there is a different class. They are shepherds, that is, we have come down to a lower stratum of human society. It was a remarkable time; the chapter records that our Lord was born in Bethlehem. The cities were crowded with people but these shepherds were abiding in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night. They were occupied legitimately; they were occupied unselfishly; they were employed in the care of others, and that at the expense of themselves. We have been reading today of Jacob who tended cattle, and how that by night the frost consumed him, and the drought, too, by day. The tending of cattle is onerous service, but these shepherds were occupied unselfishly and at cost to themselves, and it says, “an angel of the Lord was there by them”. It is a different view; it is not a star in the heavens. It is more honourable, it is a greater privilege to have an angel of the Lord, a living being, by you, than to see the light of a star. Such is the way of grace in Luke. “An angel of the Lord was there by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them”. It is grace in a living Person coming to you where you are. He is there by you. Whether it be a saint or an angel, the principle is the same, indeed a saint by you is greater than an angel at the present time, for he is one indwelt by the Spirit of God able to convey to you something of Christ. “The glory of the Lord shone around them”. Great things are portended. Then there is the word, “Fear not ... for today a Saviour has been born to you”. There is nothing like that to the wise men of the east; not a word is spoken to them as far as we know. They had guidance, they were given instruction, but these shepherds had guidance and they had light, the angel of the Lord being there by them. He came down to where they were, for such is grace; he was “there by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them”, and the word comes, “to you”.

That is how Luke presents it. It is not a question of getting rid of Jerusalem and bringing in the authority of heaven; it is a demonstration of the grace and sympathies of heaven, and that heaven thought of them: “today a Saviour has been born to you in David’s city, who is Christ the Lord”. Then we read, “suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host”; that is to say, heaven comes down in volume; such is heaven from Luke’s point of view. You are not only to be led, you are to have understanding and feelings as to what heaven is. The multitude of the heavenly host would bring the very atmosphere of heaven down to these shepherds. What a scene! What interest heaven has in every one of us! It is to impress us that God would have us enlightened and understand what heaven’s feelings are in regard of Christ and of ourselves: “to you”.

The multitude of the heavenly host here are speaking about God. If you care to go among the multitude of God’s people, that is what you will find. Normally they are occupied with God. “Glory to God”: and that is one of the best signs you can get as to where Christ is, where He is revered. A company of God’s people together are occupied with God, they are not occupied with the affairs of this world. There were many things going on. Caesar had decreed a census should be made. Matters of great importance were happening in the empire, but the heavenly host spoke about God and of glory to Him in the highest. Luke lifts us in that way. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace”. That would never come from Rome, however many times a census was made; Augustus could never bring in peace. If kings make a census of the population it is generally to find out the potential military power. That is not peace. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men”. The very atmosphere of heaven is brought down, as I said, and conveyed to these shepherds, and then as the angels were departing to heaven the shepherds moved with haste. The point is to move with the light. Great things are ahead of you, great things were ahead of these shepherds, and so they said one to another, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem”, it was not simply that they said it in their hearts, but one to another. That is another feature of the people of God — the mutual side; they speak to one another; that is to say, light having come in, let us move in it, and let us move in it now. Let us not delay. Whatever it be that God gives light about, let us move in it now. “Let us now go”, they said one to another, “even unto Bethlehem”. And they went and found exactly what the light indicated. If there are those here who need light, what I am saying is of the utmost importance. God graciously gives light, but the point is to move in it and now. “Let us now go”, and they went, and it is said they “found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger”.

You can see these shepherds going into Bethlehem, not to high places. The wise men doubtless reached the court, and had an interview with Herod, but these men were not accustomed to kings’ palaces and receptions by monarchs. They were rather accustomed to outhouses, to cattle houses, and that was where the Lord of glory was. Think of that! Divine guidance, therefore, does not lead us to the high places of this world, to the embellished buildings of this world. No, but to the back streets, it may be, and the outhouses. These shepherds made their way to Bethlehem; they would not go to the hotels or the fine residences, the light did not indicate anything like that, but a Babe in a manger, wrapped in swaddling-clothes. It was a sign; it is a small thing, a despised position, but divine light indicated ^[p. 365] the manger as the spot where the Lord of glory was. He who was the theme of heaven and who now became the theme of these shepherds, for they began to speak about Him.

Now, to finish I go on to John, and as you might expect, guidance now is a question of life. It is no longer a little child, no longer a babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, but it is a living Person here speaking Himself. We are on more mature ground now. It is a word for all of us, young and old. “I am the light of the world; he that follows me ... shall have the light of life”. He Himself is now the guide. It is not simply a guide to Him now; He is going somewhere. In Matthew and Luke He had come in from heaven and heaven was pointing to Him, but now He is going out. John always has in view that He is going out of this world. He is going somewhere, but then He is on the way and that way is to be strewn with life, the light of life.

If you go as a pioneer to any new country, you must be governed by this principle or you will die. Pioneers follow the life lines in all new countries; they take the line of the rivers which are the life lines of any country, that is to say, the influence of the rivers produces life. I am speaking of the thing literally, but many spiritually take the desert where there is no water. You do not want that; you want the line of life, and the Lord says that if you follow Him that is what you will get. “He that follows me ... shall have the light of life”. The life always moves and produces results, and these are to be the guides, so that in John it is a question of discovering where the life is. A single eye following the Lord Jesus will result in this, that you will have the light of life, you will find those in whom the Spirit of God is working, you will be led there, you will not be led into any sterile plain, into any association in which the Spirit of God is not operating.

What makes room from John’s point of view for the Spirit of God is the commandments. The great drift has been away from the commandments of the Lord, and so He says, “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me; but he that loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him”, John 14: 21. That is to say, you have a manifestation of Christ through the commandments, then the Holy Spirit will operate in relation to that manifestation and there will be an enlargement of it, a working out of it, so that it gives character to the saints. That is life. Hence if you are single-eyed and seek the Lord you will find life, the light of life, you will find those in whom the Spirit of God has room to act. Where the commandments are not kept the Holy Spirit is shut out; you cannot associate the Spirit of God with a lawless course whether individual or in any collective way. The commandments must first come before we can have the action of the Spirit, and the action of the Spirit means life, “the Spirit is life”, and you have positive evidence of life in following the Lord. So that, as He says here, “He that follows me ... shall have the light of life”.

Well, that was what I had in mind. There are many young ones who need guidance — we all need it really — to be kept on the divine highway, and I would especially commend to you that beacon light that is set up to warn you from Jerusalem and Herod. Do not go that way; whatever you do, do not go that way, go the other way, and that is the way of faith. You will escape the influence of Herod, and then, as I was saying (how simple it is) if your eye is single, you will find those in whom the Spirit of God is acting, you will find evidences of life. Keep away from the sterile thing, whatever pretence there may be, however fair it may look, keep away from it. Keep to the life-line, keep by the rivers, as it were,

^[p. 367] keep by the line on which the Spirit of God is moving. There you will get life. The action of the Spirit means the action of life. There is life, and warmth, and food among the brethren; there is everything you need all through following the Lord Jesus as the Light of the world. It is no partial light, it is no sectarian light: John ridicules all sectarian movement, he says, “The true light was that which, coming into the world, lightens every man”, John 1: 9. So the Light of the world is a universal idea; it is for all, but the follower of the light has “the light of life”.

May God help us, beloved brethren, to see to it that there is the life in our meetings, and that there is food and warmth in them that form guidance for the young believer.