The Church Is On A Stormy Sea

 

 

When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.  And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.  And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.  But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.  Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.”  (John 6:15-21)

I am bringing this message to you as a message of encouragement in a time of political and social and economic upheaval, when the loud and belligerent statements of dictators and rulers who have big mouths and little tight hearts are the winds that are stirring the sea.

But in the midst of all the turmoil in the earth, there is one walking on the storm and His name is Jesus Christ, the Lord. We ought never to be frightened, not for a moment, because He is the Sovereign Lord.

Now, I think there is a vivid picture in the text, as the frightened disciples invited Jesus into the storm-tossed boat, and immediately they were at the shore!

As you know by this time, I am not what you would call a preacher of Bible types. I think there are a few types in the Old Testament, but I think they have been greatly overdone and over-emphasized. I think that we have been bound by a slavish conformity to types which were created for us by Bible expositors who would have saved us a great deal of trouble if they had been knitting at the time, instead of teaching.

But there is more than a story here. It is a divine drama. It is God Almighty moving in audacity through the universe on His way to His predestined end, and it was not by chance or accident that our Lord went up into the mountain and his disciples went down to the sea. I do not claim to exhaust the meaning, for there is an infinite variety of helps which the soul can gather from this recorded event. But I believe the Lord was giving us a very beautiful object lesson, and it will lead us into thoughts concerning the hope of His return to earth...

If we do not see beyond the visible, and if we cannot touch that which is intangible, and if we cannot hear that which is not audible, and if we cannot know that which is beyond knowing - then I have serious doubts about the validity of our Christian experience. The Bible tells us that eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the hearts of men the things that God has laid up for them that love Him.

That is why the apostle goes on to remind us that God has revealed these mysteries to us by the Holy Spirit. Oh, my brethren, if we would only stop trying to make the Holy Spirit our servant and begin to live in His life as the fish lives in the sea, we would enter into the riches of glory about which we know nothing now...

When our Lord went up into the mountain and the clouds received Him out of their sight, the Light of the world went away, and night came. He had said, "When I am with you, there is light, and it is daytime. But when I leave you and go away for a while, it will be night."

It is so true that the night has settled on the world, and the church has worked in darkness throughout the years. I do not mean that the church has had no light, but I do say that the condition of the world has been darkness, and it has been as night upon the world throughout these centuries. The Dark Ages in history rightly should take in all of the time since the Sun of Righteousness withdrew, for it has been dark all over the world since He left the earth.

Let us consider the relationship of the ship to the sea. It is the relationship of propinquity and contact without merger - and that ought to be the relation of the church to the world. The world is the sea, the troubled sea that cannot rest...

The woe of it is this - the sea is always trying to get into the ship, and the world is always trying to get into the church. The world around us continues to try to find its way in, to splash in, to come in with soft words and beautiful white crests moving in on us, and always whispering, "Don't be so aloof - don't be so hostile. Let us come in - we have something for you - something that will do you good."

The world is making a lot of offers to the church - but we don't need the world! Even some of my friends lead me to believe that I stand pretty much alone in all of this. But I also know that I am telling a truth which will stand when the world is on fire: that the world has nothing that the Christian church needs! ...

And, whether we believe it or not, it is a question of survival with the Church of Jesus Christ today! It is not enough for the evangelical church to lean back on its forbears: "We have Abraham for our father. Let us alone!"

Jesus said in His day: "Don't tell me that you have Abraham as your father. Look - the axe lies at the root of the tree, and if that tree is not bringing forth fruit, there will be someone to chop it down. But God will raise up another tree." ...

In the context of this Bible lesson, we are told that the disciples went down into the sea and that they were sailing towards Capernaum and home. For them, Capernaum was back home. So the disciples were in the ship on their way home and it was night. In our day, the Church of Jesus Christ is on her way home, still toiling, still rowing, and it is night.

When we think about the church, the real Church of God, the Body of Christ, some hold such an ideal picture in their minds that it is hard for them to be realistic about the toiling and the rowing. They think of the church in idealistic terms - fixed up and garnished and made beautiful in all ways.

But those disciples in the boat were not ideal men - they were real men. They smelled of the sea. Their language may not have been schooled and academic like Einstein's. They were plain men who were sailing home, and there was Another who was on the mountain praying for them as they made the trip...

"It was now dark," the Scripture says, "and Jesus was not yet come."

My brethren, ought we not to be joining in confession and testimony: "Oh, Lord Jesus, it is dark, and you have not come! It was dark in the first century, and the second, and you did not come. It was dark in the day of Constantine, and you did not come. It was dark when Bernard lived; it was dark when Luther preached, and it was dark when Wesley stood on his father's tombstone and preached, and you did not come. It was dark when George Fox walked up and down the hills and vales of England and you did not come. It is still dark, Lord, and we are not saying that we are disappointed, for we would not offend against the generation of Thy people, as David said." ...

It was dark, and no doubt they cried, "Where are you, Lord?" as the tempest arose, and the great wind blew and tossed their ship.

Has not the Christian church prayed and worked and toiled through two great wars and a thousand revolutions in our own lifetime? I remember how the swift wind swept down in 1917 and they called it the Bolshevik revolution, when the royal rule was upset in Russia, and the Communists took over.

We have come through the dangers and the losses of another great world war, with the names of men rising and falling, the Hitler’s, the Mussolini’s, the Stalin’s, the Tojos. But the saber-rattling will never end, whether it be in the Far East or in the Near East, as long as the storm blows over the sea and the little ship is tossed about.

I know that the tempestuous wind is still sweeping over the surface of the deep, and I know that Christians are dying and their churches are being burned in some places. The big steel curtain and the bamboo curtain have been slammed in place, and our Christian brethren are behind them and they are cut off from us, entirely cut off. They cannot send out a carrier pigeon, nor a balloon carried by the winds. We do not have any word about that which is happening to the church in many places, in many lands.

But we know the godless doctrines and we know the control, so we know what is happening. The tempest has caught the ship, and is trying to tear it apart, trying to break it up. But the Church of Jesus Christ, composed of all the saints and the people of God, shall never perish!

We have Christ's promise that the gates of hell shall not prevail against His Church. Churches may die, but The Church must live. The church in Woochow may die, but The Church still lives. The church in Colombia may have its pastor stoned and jailed and the people forced into hiding in the rocks and hills, but The Church lives on. It is true that there is One in the mountain praying for the Church, and He knows every one of His saints who has laid down his earthly life throughout the centuries because of his testimony and faith in Christ. Every one is safe in the bosom of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a great wide garner into which the sheaves are taken, the golden sheaves of the spirit, and they will all shine in their Father's kingdom in that great day.

In the meantime, The Church floats on the sea. While the disciples row in their distress and danger, they see Jesus walking on the water. He could not remain away from them any longer. He had seen them and watched them all of that time with the eyes that never close. They were held in His hand, and they did not know it.

Brethren, I remind you that Jesus Christ is still the Lord. He is still the head of His body, The Church. We do not have to apologize for Him - He does not want us to soften His gospel to make it more acceptable to the world. He is not looking for us to defend Him, to argue in His behalf. He is still in charge. His eyes see through the fog and the night. He holds the Church in the hollow of His hand even while it is being tossed on the wild sea.

At the proper time, when He was desperately needed, He left the mountain and hurried down and walked on the water, approaching the little craft.

Are we clean enough and pure enough and honest enough and so thoroughly and genuinely His that we can see Him and hear Him? He is not here yet - but He is coming! He is walking on our stormy sea. He is approaching the ship. We do not know when He will come within hailing distance, but we know He will come at just the right time. His love and His keen interest in His people will not permit Him to stay any longer at the right hand of God the Father Almighty than is necessary.

With all that is within me, I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Sovereign, walks on the sea. He is the Sovereign Lord - and how different from the kings and rulers of earth who claim to be sovereign, but their lands and territories and empires are all marked out by boundaries.

The word 'sovereign' means absolute, infinite, unqualified ruler in all realms, in heaven and earth and sea - and that is what our Lord is. In His providential plan, He imposes certain limitations upon Himself for a little while, that He may fulfill His eternal purposes and destinies. At any moment, He can walk upon the waters of the earth or the fires of hell or the golden streets of heaven - for He is the Sovereign Lord!

Our risen and glorified Saviour, Jesus Christ, takes no orders from anyone. He has no counsellors to call in for star chamber sessions. He has no assistant lord, He has no secretary to the throne, He needs no one upon whom to lean, He needs no one from whom to seek advice. He knows in one effortless act all that can be known and He has already lived out all of our tomorrows and holds the world in the palm of His hand.

That is the Lord I serve. I gladly own that I am His. Glory be to God - the Christ we know is infinitely beyond all men and all angels and all seraphim and cherubim; above all archangels and all principalities and powers and might and dominion and things visible and invisible - for He is the origin of them all!

So, He walks on the sea. Let us not be fearful, brethren. Some worry about the nation, some worry about their jobs, some fret about the stock markets, some see the specter of another depression. All of this time there are wars and rumors of wars. We ought to be ashamed as the children of God, the disciples of Christ, the members of the Body of Christ, His Church, if we are frightened. He is walking on the sea, and He is coming our way, and our little ship is on its way home, though it is dark and the winds blow strong.

He is our Sovereign Lord!