Matthew 14: 21-36
Revelation 22: 16-17 (to ‘and the bride say, Come’)
I believe the Lord spoke to us distinctly last week as to His coming, “Behold, the bridegroom” (Matt 25: 6), a distinct appeal to the affections of the saints. I think I can see there are increasing stirrings of affection, thinking of what it will be, not to us but to Himself, to have that blessed vessel for which He paid so much. I have pondered that, beloved brethren. That cry was at midnight. We may relate it, of course, to the beginning of the recovery of the truth, approximately one hundred and eighty years ago. But there is a period of time between midnight and the dawn, and I have pondered, beloved, what does Scripture say about that period? It occurred to me that Scripture is not without its pointers.
So you will notice in the passage that I read in Matthew 14 it says, “But in the fourth watch of the night he went off to them”. Midnight, of course, is the beginning of the third watch. The fourth watch begins at three a.m. and concludes at six a.m. It seems that the Jews had taken to using the Roman timetable, and there is never a single word in Scripture that is put there without reason. I wondered whether the Lord might speak to us about this period between the answer there was for His own heart to the cry, “Behold, the bridegroom”, and the moment when He will appear as “the Sun of righteousness … with healing in his wings” (Mal 4: 2), “until the day dawn, and the shadows flee away”, Song of Songs 2: 17. That is the prospect before the believer, when the Lord takes to Himself kingly power and reigns. What a moment of joy that will be to the saints when He takes His rights in the scene where He is currently rejected. How precious, therefore, it is to take account of these final few moments of the church’s history here.
The Spirit’s voice, “Behold, the bridegroom”, is very precious. He has said it clearly; He has said it distinctly; and there has definitely, without question, been an answer to Him. It was a public cry. Christendom was affected by what the Spirit did at that moment. It was a singular moment in the testimony, but it seems to me from the Scriptures, that it will never be repeated in the same way. What I do find is this reference to the fourth watch: it is the Lord distinctly appearing personally to His own in a private way.
So I suggested this passage that we might see in it what the Lord might say to us. One thing that is clear is that they were in the ship by compulsion. I think one thing that the cry “Behold, the bridegroom” did was to establish the truth authoritatively as regards the truth. I think the Lord has opened up steadily from that time the truth that was in darkness from a public point of view. So that at the present time there is a practical answer to the Spirit saying, “Behold, the bridegroom”. So history has gone on and what has been gathered in a distinctive way as a result of the cry, “Behold, the bridegroom”, is the true formation of the bride of Christ. They were “labouring in rowing”, Mark 6: 48. In John’s presentation of the same event it says, “Having rowed then about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they see Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the ship; and they were frightened”, John 6: 19. Now twenty-five or thirty stadia is quite a substantial distance. In fact, I think it was about five miles from where they were to Capernaum; I think twenty-five or thirty stadia represents about three-quarters of that distance; so they had made quite a bit of progress, and I think we could say, beloved brethren, that there has been quite a bit of progress in the souls of the saints.
There comes this point when the winds were contrary. I do not need to tell you with regard to the public position in this country that the winds are contrary. Persons who take a public position religiously fail the church. Even ’political correctness’ is seeking to obscure the light of Christianity. The winds are gaining in momentum, and the effect of that is that it stirs up the water, and so it says, “But ...”. I think it is very touching that the Lord is intervening again personally in regard to those who have answered to the compulsion of His love, to take on the truth in relation to His lordship, kingdom thoughts. Compulsion involves His rights in the testimony, and I believe I can say the Lord has re-established His rights. There is a dispensational bearing to this. It involves Israel, and refers to the time of Jacob’s trouble, when Israel will go through so much pressure until finally He comes in and reigns as the Prince of Peace. But I think the Spirit of God gives us sufficient in this chapter to warrant us applying this section to this final period of time, from three a.m. to six a.m. That is where we are. You say, ’I wish I had been in the early part of the recovery, when that clear word, “Behold, the bridegroom”, went out’. I thank God He has given me my place in the testimony now. It is a great privilege, because it may be that I will be alive at the rapture. That is what I am looking for. I am not looking for events; I am looking for Him. I want to see His face. Do you? What will it be to see the One who has been so careful about me, and the One who has been so careful about the testimony, to see His face, and to know there will be no more sorrow, no more tears, no more crying? All that is contrary will be removed. There will be no trace of it left. All that will be left will be eternal bliss. It is about to dawn; it might be now before we have finished.
Well, I would like to just point out that “the disciples, seeing him walking on the sea, were troubled”. They found it difficult to understand. I think their eyesight was a little defective. That is a challenge for me. That is a challenge from me: is your eyesight defective? It was not with Rebecca. At the end of Genesis 24 she “lifted up her eyes” (v 64), and it says of Isaac “he lifted up his eyes”, v 63. These eyes were focused. That is beautiful. You can almost feel the pulsations of her affections growing stronger as their eyes were lifted up. She had eyes for no-one else. She had been speaking along the way to the servant. “Who is the man that is walking in the fields to meet us?”, v 65. Do you ever ask those questions? Do you ever turn to the Spirit of God, and say, ‘Open up to me the glories of Christ, who He is’? He would like nothing better. I just point to the fact that it says of all of them that they were troubled, and that they thought it was an apparition. Could the Lord leave such a situation? It says, “But Jesus immediately spoke to them, saying, Take courage; it is I”. I would like, beloved brethren, to say to each one of us here to pass on the Lord’s message: “Take courage”. Do not doubt; do not be fearful; do not start looking at the breaking up of the boat; do not start looking at the oarsmen; do not start looking at persons elsewhere; keep your eyes on Christ! It says of Peter, “And Peter answering him”. You notice that word, “answering”. The appeal is to take courage, and Peter answers. He says, “Lord, if it be thou” - notice that emphatic “thou”. In this last moment, beloved brethren, the Lord wants to be indispensable to you. Peter says, “if it be thou”, and he makes a proposal that to human thought is an impossibility. You say, ’How can the testimony continue?’. Things look so fragmented, so difficult. The winds are so contrary. The darkness is getting deeper. Peter says “if it be thou”. Do you have that link with the Lord that instils confidence? Have you got confidence in the Lord about the history of the testimony until the moment that He comes? I have. Paul says, “for I know whom I have believed”, 2 Tim 1: 12. Do you? Can you lift up your eye and focus on Christ and have implicit confidence that whatever the circumstances, you will be able to go to Him?
It says, “And Peter, having descended from the ship”. From practical experience, beloved brethren, I will tell you that that is one of the most difficult things to do, to let go, to let go of everything else, and go to Christ. I will speak about my own experience to amplify this. I remember when things were confused amongst the saints I was in fellowship with. Spiritual discernment was needed. One thing I knew was that the Lord’s word was quite clear: “Be not diversely yoked with unbelievers” (2 Cor 6: 14), and that meant professional associations were not of Himself. What do you do? You look at others in the boat and you say, ’How can I leave them?’. They were persons locally I have received a great deal of help from, and for whom I have a great deal of respect. One brother, who himself had come out of one of these institutes on his own exercise, was now saying to the brethren, ‘What I did I cannot lay on others‘. The scripture says, “Be not”. That is a command; that is not an option. To maintain the principles of fellowship, I would have to leave the boat. I had to leave persons I loved, persons who had helped me, because they would not answer to the appeal of scripture, and that step of leaving the boat to go to Christ was a difficult one. Someone here today may be feeling that they have reached a point where they have to move to Christ Himself. You have heard His voice and you have said, “if it be thou”. You have confidence in Himself, and you begin to walk on the water.
It says, “And Peter, having descended from the ship, walked upon the waters to go to Jesus. But seeing the wind strong he was afraid”. It does not say he saw the waters were agitated. There was no question about that. We have known what that was, persons who would not even shake hands with you. We have known these things, difficult times within, and you leave the boat and go to Christ. You ask, ’What is the future going to hold?’ So we broke bread in confidence in the Lord and His word. I say that to encourage the brethren, not just because it is my experience. The critical point is to get out of the boat and go to Christ, and what you touch then is normal Christianity. That is one thing that is commented on in the ministry about this passage, that when Peter walked upon the water to the Lord, he was experiencing normal Christianity.
Then it says, “But seeing the wind strong he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught hold of him”. Oh, the wonder of divine grace, that from that time onward He takes hold of his hand. He will take hold of your hand, and lead you in His own way! What a moment! Just ponder it! Bear in mind, beloved brethren, I am speaking about these last three hours of the testimony, from the third hour to the sixth hour, just before He comes, and here is normal Christianity being enjoyed, Peter going in affection to Christ. Having cried out, he is now being held by His hand, walking upon the water. Think of that! There he was, being held by the hand of his Saviour, but more than that, who was holding his hand? The Son of God. Brethren, there is nothing like it. What a moment, at the end of this glorious dispensation, to come to reach dry land. What is in view? The glorious time when “the Sun of righteousness” will come “with healing in his wings”; when what I have enjoyed will actually be imparted to everything publicly. Can you imagine it? What a moment!
You may ask what connection there can be with what I read in Revelation 22? Well, another thing just prior to the dawn is the morning star, and the Lord Jesus Himself, in His grace, has given us another pointer, that is, “the bright and morning star”. So the Lord says, “I Jesus”. That is the Man of the gospels. He would make an appeal. It is what He is personally to you, and He says, “I am the root and offspring of David”. The “root … of David” is John’s gospel; the “offspring of David” is Matthew’s gospel. The “root” involves His deity; the “offspring” involves everything that will be His by title as the great King. But then He does not finish there; it says, “the bright and morning star”. The one who sees the morning star is the one who is conscious of the darkness. Are you conscious of the darkness? The morning star shines the brighter because the background is so dark. I think there is something very attractive in it.
It is not the only reference to the morning star, but here it is a bright one. I would like just to point you to another reference to it and that is the address to Thyatira in chapter 2. Things were very dark there. What can you say when you look at things publicly going towards Rome, and there, in principle, is Jezebel? Ahab was one of the worst kings that Israel ever had, and there was Jezebel his wife, and the appeal to the overcomer in Thyatira is, “And he that overcomes, and he that keeps unto the end my works, to him will I give authority over the nations, and he shall shepherd them with an iron rod; as vessels of pottery are they broken in pieces, as I also have received from my Father”, Rev 2: 26, 27. And then He adds, “and I will give to him the morning star”, v 28. It is almost as if, in the movements in the time of the recovery of things under Luther, the Lord would say, ’I will give you some idea that in the darkness there is going to be a morning star’. It says in Genesis He made the sun and the moon and the stars. We all know what the sun speaks of, the glory of Christ in His kingdom glory; we know that the moon speaks of the assembly; but it just adds, “- and the stars”, Gen 1: 16. It is interesting the way it puts it, as if they were reserved for a special time, do you not think? The stars even come into the book of Daniel (chap 12: 3), another dark period of history, and it is as if the star is reserved specially for this last moment. Have you ever actually seen the morning star? If you have not, you need to get up just before dawn, and look towards the heavens and see the morning star; but stay a bit longer, and see the sun come up. That is a worthwhile experience. You suddenly feel the warmth of the rays of the sun as it comes up over the horizon. There is something majestic about the creation. It gives you an impression of God’s “eternal power and divinity”, Rom 1: 20.
There is another place that speaks of the morning star. I will just read that one: “And we have the prophetic word made surer, to which ye do well taking heed (as to a lamp shining in an obscure place) until the day dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts”, 2 Pet 1: 19. That is an interesting reference to the morning star. That is just before the dawn, and where is it arising? “In your hearts”. “And we have the prophetic word made surer”: that is to give you confidence. The Spirit of God has opened up the truth of what is prophetic. It had a distinctive place at the beginning of the recovery, the midnight session, you may say. Things were re-established as to where the church fitted into the great scheme of divine teaching.
It says here, “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify these things to you in the assemblies. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star”. The moment He presents Himself as the bright and Morning Star, "the Spirit and the bride say, Come"; the Holy Ghost in the church says, "Come”, I find that alluring, attractive, gripping, to think that my grasping that the morning star is glistening in the midst of the darkness is a sign that we have reached the end of the dispensation. The glorious, magnificent dispensation of grace is coming finally to a conclusion, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come”. A divine Person and the bride in total unison saying to the Lord just one word, “Come”. The star therefore gives you hope.
I leave that, beloved brethren, with you. I trust I have not been too technical in what I have said, but it attracts my heart that the Spirit of God would give us a glimpse between the midnight call and the moment when the Sun is going to shine. That is where we are. Where are you in relation to it? Is your eye on the morning star or is it on the wind or on the waves? Is it on the darkness? Is it on the difficulties? Is it on the problems? I say, the Lord is making an extraordinary movement at this fourth watch in relation to the saints. Have you seen His extraordinary movements? Can you explain what is happening in India? Can you explain the recovery of many brethren amongst us? No, it is an extraordinary divine movement, another sign that we are right at this point when the morning star is shining in all its brightness. May the Lord bless the word for His Name’s sake!
Gillingham
20th March 2010