DIVINE SUPPORT
[p. 383] DIVINE SUPPORT
Zechariah 3:5 - 7, Luke 2:8 - 11, Acts 27:21 - 24, 2 Timothy 4:16,17
In reading these scriptures I am thinking of the manner of divine support, especially in circumstances such as those in which we are, or are likely to be; all that I have in view centring in the statements regarding the angel of the Lord standing by, or the Lord standing by. I hope to be able to group my thoughts under four heads: first, the angel standing by; then as in Luke, the angel being there by them; then the angel standing by Paul; and finally the Lord standing with him. These are most interesting records of divine support afforded to the people of God, and first, in regard of adjustment. We shall find ourselves, if we have not already in need of adjusting support. The need may be humiliating, but apart from the support accorded we shall remain unadjusted; and disregard of adjustment from God time at least, from the service of God.
Joshua is regarded in Zechariah 3 as the high priest, so he was in the position of service; but he sorely required adjustment and was where it was available. He was standing “before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him”. We are reminded, therefore, that in the need of adjustment we are confronted, not only with the influence of our own feelings and, it may be, our own wills, but with the direct opposition of Satan. He is concerned that the adjustment should not take place; for if it does not take place, we are for ever disqualified for this service; or if we continue in it, we discredit it, and discredit the God [p. 384] whom we assume to serve. These are matters well known to Satan, and hence his resistance; he is standing there to resist the adjustment in you or me. If he cannot turn us aside altogether, he will hold us unadjusted in regard of God, and in regard of service and what is becoming to the service. But what is peculiarly encouraging here, is that the Lord is called upon to rebuke him: “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee”. The purpose of God was involved. Each one of us is taken up in relation to this; He would have us in accord with it. So the “filthy garments” have to be removed; garments dragged, it may be, in the gutter of evil religious associations; or defiled commercial, social or family associations. Our garments easily become defiled and although we may not notice it or may be indifferent to it. God notices it and He is not indifferent; He is concerned about our garments. As taking us up through the gospel. He robes us with the very best; and He is concerned that we should not deteriorate, nor that our practical ways should be out of keeping with His own great thoughts seen in “the best robe”.
So here the Spirit of Christ says, “Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments”, or, “festival garments” as it may read. We have here the angel of the Lord standing by in these operations. It is not done in any haphazard way; it is done under direct divine surveillance; the Spirit of Christ calling for it. It is imperative; Satan is rebuked; Jerusalem the chosen is in view, and the fair mitre and the festival robes are put on Joshua, the angel of the Lord standing by.
Standing by here is not presented as specially intimate, the circumstances forbidding intimacy or mutual feeling. In other words, they are circumstances of comparative distance between God and the soul; but nevertheless the operation goes on, for God has taken [p. 385] the matter in hand and Joshua is subject. We see no evidence of pulling away the shoulder, or any exercise of his own will in refusing the adjustment. Satan is kept at a distance, rebuked; and the whole operation took place under divine superintendence, for God has things done well; and so as the believer yields, the adjustment is perfect. In the first instance, therefore, the fair mitre is put on and then the festival robes, the angel of the Lord standing by. The next thing that comes in here in connection with this standing by, is a protest.
It is well if God protests in our souls; for whilst we may be amenable up to a point for adjustment, we may not be ready for a further process, whereas God is bent upon perfecting us. He goes the whole way with us; and at times in the process, a protest is necessary. So it says here, “The angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by”. He is now dealing directly with Joshua, to bring him entirely under the will of God, and into accord with the divine current — the current of the Spirit of God.
I am dwelling on this point of adjustment, for it is of real importance. If we do not need it now, it will certain by come up. Indeed, the need of adjustment is constant, especially with young Christians. I have often thought and said, that generally we need several conversions; certainly the apostle Peter had two, and we need not assume that we are immune. Generally we need more than one conversion, for conversion means turning round. So here in the case of this servant, Joshua the high priest — we have the protest of the Lord; that is to say, God insists on a walk in His ways as imperative, if we have to do with His house, and to [p. 386] judge and keep His courts. It is a great service accorded indeed to every one, for each of us has his part in the house of God, and in the service of God in His holy courts. The psalmist said, “A day in thy courts is better than a thousand”, (Psalm 84:10); you see how God reckons time. What holy enjoyment belongs to the courts of God! and what a privilege to have to do with them and keep them! But this privilege is accorded to us on the ground of adjustment here, that we may walk in His ways; and then finally the privilege is given of a place to walk amongst “these that stand by”. As to this God gives us a lead. In the angel of the Lord ‘standing by’ we have the suggestion and say, I would like to do that too, for it is a great matter to be found amongst those that stand by the testimony of God. How much there is to stand by at the present time! The interests of God, centring in His house, are here on earth, assailed from every quarter, the enemy having ready instruments for this. How imperative it is that there should be those that stand by and who walk amongst those who stand by, as we read, “I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by”.
Some of us are too local, others it may be are too universal; there is constant need of balance; but the idea of persons walking obviously indicates that some do travel. Some of us are privileged to travel literally, in standing by, or seeking to stand by, the interests of the Lord on earth. Others may not be privileged in that way — most are not — but if we do not literally travel about the world to stand by the interests of Christ, we may certainly do so in our prayers, and perhaps that is the most effective way. There are many travelling in that way. It is divine; the ways are made, the Lord Jesus has led the way in traversing the world in prayer. “I do not demand for these only, but also for those who believe on me through their word”, (John 17:20). You see what a wide scope the Lord had in His prayers,
[p. 387] not only those that were immediately with Him, but all that should believe on Him, even ourselves. He not only traversed the world, as I might say, at that time; but the whole dispensation was in His mind. So with the apostle Paul who said that he combated for the Colossians, and the Laodiceans, and as many as had not seen his face in flesh. (Colossians 2:1). He walked indeed as none did in his day, among those who stood by: “From Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum”, he said, “I have fully preached the gospel of Christ”, (Romans 15:19). What walking! What journeying! Truly he had a wonderful place among those who “stand by”. So we have a lead in the Lord, and in His great servant as to these “places to walk among these that stand by”. We see therefore, what is opened up to us as adjusted, the angel of the Lord standing by during the operation; and then the protest that we should walk in the divine ways, so as to judge in His house and keep His courts, and then further to be accorded the privilege of walking among those who stand by.
Now in Luke it is not adjustment that is in view; but we have shepherds keeping their flock by night. They belong to a class that began with Abel; they belong to the shepherd class led by such men as Abel and Jacob and Moses and David, all foreshadowing the great and good Shepherd. We have therefore, the saints represented as belonging to this unselfish class; for a shepherd presents the idea of unselfish occupation; a very fine position to be found in Moses, as a type, helps as to this. In contrast to Jacob he sought no wages; nor did he become a sharer in the ownership of the flock. No true lover of Christ will seek to share in the ownership of the flock. Sometimes we hear people pretending to serve speak of their flock; the Lord Jesus resents that. It is the flock of God; it belongs to the true Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep; who brought all His own together, so that there should [p. 388] be one flock and one Shepherd. No true servant, therefore, will seek to share jointly in the flock. Jacob did; he served for wages and became alienated from the owner of the flock. That is a sure result for one who serves for wages. But Moses set no wages for his service to Reuel; as he fled from the land of Egypt he took up lowly service in Midian, “content”, it says, “to dwell with the man”, (Exodus 2:2). A shepherd of the flock of God has to learn to be content with any circumstances, for it is an unselfish and onerous calling; and so Moses served his father-in-law, as far as Scripture shows for forty years without wages. There was nothing said about wages, nothing said about part ownership of the flock. At the end he led it to the backside of the desert to Horeb, the mount of God. Could he have done better? No, he could not have done better than to lead the flock to the mount of God. That is the idea; and he became the shepherd of God’s flock for forty years in the wilderness, during which time they were nursed in the desert, their manners borne with, and all through Moses; for Moses represented God among the people, being “faithful in all his house”. Numbers 12:7 is a marvellous tribute to one who began as a shepherd.
So you see in what an exalted calling these men were, they were keeping their flock by night when others were in the towns and cities in census time. We know what that means. Young people need to be warned in regard of cities and towns on these special occasions — how the enemy has the advantage there. But here are shepherds outside of all that, tending their flock by night unselfishly, and it says, “An angel of the Lord was there by them”, verse 9; heaven honoured them. How precious is that in the service of a shepherd caring unselfishly for the sheep of Christ! “An angel of the Lord was there by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them”. What an incentive to be engaged [p. 389] unselfishly in the care of the sheep and lambs of Christ! It was an honour from heaven; and greater still, as I may say, “the glory of the Lord shone around them”. What an environment! And then a multitude of the heavenly host coming down and encircling them, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men”. All this is most touching. Then the message to them, “For unto you” — again their honour — “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord”. Thus we see how heaven supports us here, as standing by, and as unselfishly caring for the interests of Christ.
In the third instance, we have one becoming dominant through moral power, in a set of most trying circumstances; circumstances that were intended to test to the utmost, the faith of the servant. For many days without sun, or stars, storm-tossed, with the ship about to be wrecked; it is the servant now, and what a servant! I have alluded to him already, a servant of servants, we may say, and in these circumstances he says, “There stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve”. Let us rest on those words and let us understand from them, the dignity of the service of God, and what tests we may be brought to in it; for it is not a pathway of roses; it is a pathway of thorns externally, one in which we may legitimately be weary, but of which we never weary. Paul was not weary of it although supremely tested in it. We need not expect, as in that service, to be immune from the tests, for God in His love tests us according to put strength. He sits as a refiner of silver, and He would bring out the strength of faith and endurance, all to make us in accord with the path of the great Servant. “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth”, (Isaiah 42:1). It touches the heart to read the history and the sufferings of that Servant as recorded in Isaiah — His form and His visage marred more than that of any man, and finally, led “as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth”, (Isaiah 53:7). That is “My servant” — Jehovah’s Servant, and God loves to bring out in those who are in the position of servants, the traits of Christ; they are relatively the same as they were in Him. It is “Christ in you”, and God is pleased to test us, as in the furnace, for it brings out the endurance, and the divine nature working in us, which is fragrant to Him.
I would commend to you the chapter in Daniel which speaks of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in the furnace. It will interest you to see how many times their names are mentioned in it. What does this mean? It means what pleasure God had in those names — Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. There was a fourth person walking with them in the furnace heated seven times, and he was like unto the Son of God; as if He came in beforehand to honour them, in their marvellous expression of the Spirit of Christ, in the way of endurance and suffering. God would put us to that test, to honour us especially in His service; and here the apostle is tested to the utmost in this long, cheerless voyage. But he says, “There stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve”. The point that I would make, is that his standing by, in the most trying and adverse circumstances, brought him into dominance; the servant becomes dominant in a moral way I speak to all of us; because these circumstances are sure to be reached in some form or another as we faithfully serve Christ; and the point is whether we shall go down under them, or rise above them. It is one or the other. What happened here was a majestic rising above them, the angel of God standing by; the apostle becomes, in a sense, master of the ship.
There was to be no harm to any one, for it was the dispensation of grace after all, and God was maintaining [p. 391] it. They were all to reach land; but what was the secret? The secret was prayer; the Spirit of Christ seeking the salvation of everyone that sailed on that ship. That is a very fine thing, that you do not want to lose any of the brethren; you do not want to lose one that sails with you. “God has granted to thee all those that sail with thee”, verse 24, the angel said to Paul. Need I say he prayed for them? Yes, he sought the salvation of everyone on that ship, and God gave them to him; I mean, salvation from the shipwreck, from the sea. It has its own prophetic significance, but I do not dwell on that. I am speaking of what the apostle was in those circumstances, how he sought the salvation of all unselfishly. The soldiers would have got off the ship selfishly, but the apostle sought the salvation of all, and thus became dominant; so that under his wise direction and forethought everyone was saved. Thus, in these circumstances we become dominant, the angel of the Lord standing by, so that all are saved. It is a very fine thing that one should rise with spiritual power above the circumstances and save all that “sail with” one. How this enters into local meetings and the general position of the saints is quite obvious.
Then there is the last scripture; it refers to the apostle in his closing moments before the emperor, where it is a question of his answer. The Lord had told His apostles that, as brought before kings and rulers, they need not prepare their discourse, but that the Holy Spirit would teach them in that hour what they should say. I want you to note this, because it is a question of ability learn quickly, That is, as the outcome of proper education, one becomes so accustomed to learning, under training and schooling, that he learns quickly. So you find the Lord speaking of His servants being brought before kings, persons whose presence would be so disconcerting ordinarily that one would be disposed to have his defence carefully memorised.
[p. 392] The Lord says. Do not do that. In fact, I believe the Lord would discourage even memorising of discourses for service. But I am speaking now of what it is to appear before a potentate, that is to say, an extreme position in the testimony. The Lord says, “Take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say”. Can we doubt that the apostle Paul was governed by that principle? I believe that he adhered to it; he was so accustomed to the action of the Spirit of God in him, that he could distinguish, between the Spirit inspiring him to say something and his own judgment, (1 Corinthians 7). So, when he speaks here of his first answer, can we doubt that the Holy Spirit taught him? I believe it was a suitable answer, and evidently so spiritual that those present who should have stood by him, fled; they were unequal to the pressure. Possibly they might have thought it was extreme unwise, but at any rate, he says, “All men forsook me”. But could also say, “The Lord stood with me and strengthened me”. Paul was to do the speaking, but the Lord supporting him. What a blessed experience in the presence of the lion’s mouth! Who can say what tension of soul was his? But we may be assured he was as palm as were Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in the fiery furnace or Daniel in the den of lions; we may be assured the great apostle was as unperturbed as they. It does not say the mouth of the lion was shut; the Lord did not resort to that. He could have stricken the emperor; He could have closed his mouth, but He did not. He delivered Paul from it, which was in a sense greater. That is to say, it is a question of the power of Christ standing with us, in the most extreme position of opposition, and delivering us. Need we then have any fear as we proceed in the testimony of God? I do not think so for a moment. These instances are to strengthen and invigorate us. The Lord will not forsake [p. 393] those who stand up for Him; He will stand by their and will deliver them; not only from the lion’s mouth on a particular occasion, but from every wicked work and preserve them to His heavenly kingdom.
Well, may God bless these thoughts to us. I believe they are needed; that we may be all standing by firmly as adjusted, standing by unselfishly in the interests o the Lord, and He will stand by us, and give us triumphant entrance into His everlasting kingdom.