THAT WHICH ENLIGHTENS US BECOMES TO US LAW
THAT WHICH ENLIGHTENS US BECOMES TO US LAW
I want to give you one thought — namely, that that by which men are enlightened becomes law to them; it is a principle which all can take in — it is not a difficult sentence. You see it with people of the world; if a man has been enlightened by philosophy it becomes law to him, or if by science it is the same thing, the principle is true.
I want first to say what the light is and then to show how it becomes law. If that by which we have been enlightened does not become law to us it proves that the light has not been very bright. The brighter the light the greater the law.
In the series of Psalms up to Psalm 16 you find weakness in the experience of saints, for till you get to Psalm 16 you have not got a Man. But when you come to Psalm 16 you have a Man who of necessity must go to the right hand of God; He was so divinely perfect, earth could not hold Him. Man was made for earth and earth was good enough for him as so made; but what has come to pass in the ways of God is that a Man has been manifested here on earth whom earth could not contain. He must go to the right hand of God: “at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore”. I allow that Christ went there, too, on the ground of redemption, so that He might carry others with Him to heaven, which could not have been the case had He gone in only on the ground of His personal perfection. He came from heaven and went back to heaven — that is the Man of Psalm 16. In Psalm 17 His sentence comes forth from the presence of God. There were two men,
†Lecture at Calne.
[p. 2] the man of the earth and the Man of Psalm 16, and God had to determine between the two. You get the same thought in John 17: 25, “O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me”. The righteous Father had to determine between the world and Christ.
Then in Psalm 18 you get the exercises and history of Israel taken up in Christ and carried on to the ultimate glory. But when we come to Psalm 19 our mind is carried from earth to heaven. The thought hid in it is a very great one indeed. I look at it morally, for if Scripture speaks of phenomena or of what is apparent, it always has a moral thought in view. It is most important to read Scripture in that light. Even as to historical occurrences related, they are not related as history, but for the moral point in them. The earth declares the glory of man — a very poor glory, a Babylonish glory, but man is content with it. But earth also declares the dishonour of God: if you look abroad you see moral confusion — good and evil entangled; God is not the author of confusion but of peace. The coming in of Christ meant peace, but you never get it established till you get the disentanglement of good and evil. The works of the devil are seen in the confusion of good and evil, and the Son of God was manifested that He might undo the works of the devil; when that is accomplished there will be peace, not confusion. Man is content to have his glory in a scene of confusion. This is true of many a king since Nebuchadnezzar. Man is not at all particular about moral confusion; in fact, he does not detect it very much, he is so much at home in it. But if you look up, the heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament shows His handiwork. God’s glory is that in which He is effulgent; no one can carry glory to God; His glory must be the effulgence of Himself. If I look at the work of God upon earth I see confusion;
[p. 3] but if I look up to heaven, there is no confusion there. The more men know of astronomy, the more they see the perfect order there: the heavens declare His glory. But my point is to look at the thing morally, not simply as a question of God’s handiwork. The heavens declare His glory, and why? Because you find there the answer to Psalm 16. In Psalm 16 you have glory down here, but in Psalm 19 Christ is set in the heavens, and so the heavens declare God’s glory. God’s glory is the moral effulgence that shines out in Christ: we behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. What we see in Christ is every right of God maintained, and yet light and salvation to men. I want you to take that in. Christ in glory appeared to Paul; He was light and salvation for Paul as He is for every one on earth. The grace of God has appeared — where? In Christ: the practical result is that grace reigns through righteousness for the glory of God. We can understand that; the sun is a figure of it — it is a light set in heaven to enlighten men on earth, “In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun”. Paul was a remarkable exemplification of this, and so, too, the Philippian jailor. I do not doubt that Paul put before the latter how every right of God was secured in Christ so that He might be salvation to men. The light becomes law to us. What is the light we get by Christ? The light of grace: He has opened to us the heart of God. I take it no one here is a remarkable person in this world; but in another way we are remarkable, for we know what is in the heart of God towards men. How did we know the forgiveness of sins? Because we learned that forgiveness was in the heart of God towards men. How do we know grace? Because grace is in His heart; Christ has made it plain and it shines now in Christ. In His name repentance and remission of sins are preached. Where were repentance and remission to be known? In the heart of God [p. 4] towards men. If I apprehend that, I am not one bit afraid of God. I see the same as to eternal life — that it is in the heart of God towards men; so in our weakness and poverty we are rich, for you cannot have greater riches than to know what is in the heart of God for men; every right of God maintained that Christ might be for salvation to the ends of the earth.
Now I will illustrate the principle I speak of: Christ enlightened Paul: he saw a light greater than the sun and he was enlightened by one word from Christ, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” He knew then very well that there was nothing in the heart of God against him. But then he says, “To me to live is Christ”; the One who was light to him became his law. Again, in John 9 the blind man knew who had enlightened him and he did Him homage. And again, the two blind men to whom Christ gave sight followed Jesus in the way; they might not have been able to tell why they followed Him, but He had become law to them. In the parable of the good Samaritan (though the lawyer did not follow it out) the lawyer had answered, “He that shewed mercy” was the neighbour, and the Lord said, “Go, and do thou likewise”. If he had had his eyes opened to the apprehension of Christ he would then have done likewise. You have to look at what you are enlightened by. Some people think they are enlightened by works of fiction, and if so what they read will be law to them It is a very important thing to be enlightened by true light, for then it becomes law to you. I will refer now to the latter part of the psalm (verses 4, 5, 6). “In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof”. I will show the reference of that expression to Christ in Romans 10: 6 - 8. The report there [p. 5] referred to is that which the Holy Spirit has brought down from heaven. A great moral light has been set in heaven — that is the report. I trust all here have been enlightened; it is a great thing to walk in the light of God. We need naturally to be in the light of the sun, the light of this world. But the light of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ; it is only there you get it, and I cannot conceive anything more blessed than to walk in the light of God’s heart towards me, or rather towards men. I can understand a timid believer hesitating to appropriate it to himself, but God has no two thoughts in regard to men; Christ is His mind towards all men.
I take up the details of the second part of the psalm — the law of Jehovah. You come here to a more limited circle bringing in the thought of relationship, as is evident from the name employed. It converts the soul; that is the first effect of the law. If you have not law you are lawless. We have not now the ten commandments but we have law; it is a great thing to have Christ as law. All of us have been enlightened by Christ and He is law to us; the effect is that it converts the soul. If you can think of a woman married to a perfect husband he would of necessity become law to her. He is not law to her till they are married; there may be attachment before, but there is no true affection of husband and wife till they are married. Then every thought in her mind is revolutionised, every interest of hers is subordinated to the new interest of her husband. The law of the Lord is perfect. No woman has a perfect husband, though she may think it, as every wife does; but our being married to Christ ought to work a perfect revolution in us. I surrender my own interests and am governed now by the interests of Christ. That is the revolution that takes place in every one who is married to Christ; then you bring forth fruit to God.
“[p. 6] The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple”. I will illustrate this from Luke 10:21,22; Luke 10:38-42. Christ was revealing the Father; that was His testimony, and Mary sat at His feet and heard His testimony; she had chosen the good part; He Himself was the testimony to her. It was beautiful to see her sitting at His feet, and what held her was what He was; it made her wise. She was simple, but she became wise. You remember how the Lord vindicated her; she was the one person who did the right thing — the testimony of the Lord made her wise. She was not at the grave; she knew that Christ would rise again; the testimony of the Lord was sure, and her conduct was the evidence of her wisdom.
“The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart”. If you look at Luke 24: 46 - 53, you will see what were the statutes of the Lord ordained to the disciples. His name was the statutes; repentance and remission of sins were to be preached in His name: the statutes were right, rejoicing their hearts, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
Another thought — “The commandment of the Lord is pure”. The commandment is Christ Himself; you will never carry out His commandment except as you have Christ Himself commanding the heart. “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you”. We are to love one another with a pure heart fervently, and the effect of that is you get enlightened. Christians are often not very intelligent because Christ is not commandment to them. I refer to Colossians 2. The first thing here is to be knit together in love; it is about the one thing in the world that is pure, and then not only are you knit together, but you advance to all riches of the full assurance of understanding.
“The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether”. We read in 2 Corinthians 5: 10: “For [p. 7] we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad”. The ‘terror’ of the Lord should be read ‘fear’. What was the fear of the Lord to Paul? Christ, and the right that Christ had to judge. He was not afraid of Christ; he would not be judged of man’s day, but he recognised the right and title that Christ had to judge of his conduct down here. And what is the effect? It is clean; we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God, we cannot cherish an unclean, unworthy motive.
“The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether”. To illustrate this I refer you to John 7: 17, 18. You see there that Christ answers morally to the judgments of the Lord, He tests everything by Himself. You get the idea of His judgment in Revelation 1, “feet like to fine brass”: the seven churches are tested and judged by Christ Himself, He is true and altogether righteous. You can understand that whether it is fear, or statutes, or law, or judgments, all is presented to us in Christ, and He is all these things to us. It is a great thing to have Him for law. He says, “Come unto me ... take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ... and ye shall find rest unto your souls”. To take His yoke is to engage in the service of love. The apostle said virtually to the Galatians, you are desirous of law, why do you not fulfil Christ’s law and bear one another’s burdens?
Mary found the testimonies of the Lord sure, making wise the simple; she surpassed the disciples in intelligence. The thief on the cross was intelligent above all; he recognised what he was himself, but also what Christ was. We have all to be tested by Christ. Let Christ be law to you; love one another with a pure heart fervently and you will get your eyes greatly enlightened. The fear of the Lord is clean. It kept [p. 8] the apostle clean, he was never governed, as far as we know, by unworthy motives.
“The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold ... sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb”. People run after gold and after honey — what is sweet and pleasant in this world; but these things of which God speaks are more to be desired, and in keeping of them there is great reward. There is great reward in being married to Christ.
The longer I live the more I appreciate Scripture, not simply the detail, but that from beginning to end you have a living, powerful voice speaking in strong moral accents — a voice which is the expression of feeling, the voice of One who is affected by what is passing down here.
We may well echo what we get at the end of the Psalm, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer”.
You may depend upon the truth of the principle that that by which we are enlightened must of necessity become law to us.