THE INTERVENTION OF THE LORD TO SUPPORT HIS OWN
[p. 381] THE INTERVENTION OF THE LORD TO SUPPORT HIS OWN
John 6:16 - 21; Joshua 5:13 - 15; Luke 24:33 - 43
These scriptures furnish examples of how the Lord comes in to support us as we move according to His mind. These illustrations of His service do not imply that He does not take the initiative Himself at times. Indeed, had God not moved towards us and wrought in us, we should never have moved towards Him. He has taken the initiative in all things with a view to the accomplishment of His own thoughts and our blessing; but, having enlightened us and brought us into subjection and into relationship with Himself, and having given us His Spirit, He looks for us to move according to the light He furnishes us. 1 John 1:7 tells us: “If we walk in the light as he [God] is in the light, we have fellowship with one another”. Thus we do not need a commandment for everything we have to do; as God furnishes us light, we are to walk in it. In the prophets we read: “This is the way, walk ye in it” (Isaiah 30:21). To fail to walk in the way thus marked is self-will and lawlessness. On the other hand, as we take this way, God is with us in it.
Our scripture in John 6 illustrates how the disciples walked according to the light that was given them. It is said in verse 16 that they “went down to the sea, and having gone on board ship, they went over the sea to Capernaum”. The Lord did not tell them to do this. In the gospel of Matthew, which also relates this incident, we are told that the Lord compelled them to go into the ship, and Mark relates the same fact, but John omits the Lord’s commandment or compulsion in the passage. John has in mind that the Lord had furnished them with light, in order that they should move. Because of the miracle that Jesus [p. 382] had done, man would have made Him King, and, following this, we read that the Lord Himself moved: He “departed again to the mountain himself alone” — He ascended. What then are the disciples to do? They are to regulate their movements by those of their Master, as we see in Matthew 5:1 and chapter 8:23; so that, the Lord being in movement here, they move also, and evidently in the right direction. Christendom generally has taken up a stationary attitude in regard of Christ, whilst He advances constantly in relation to the testimony, and those who love Him advance with Him. The disciples here show their understanding in that they move too. It was evening. The natural inclination would be to go somewhere to rest for the night. This often happens with us when the light furnished indicates that we should move, and at once. The two disciples in Luke 24, who had turned their backs on Jerusalem, as they reached Emmaus, entered their house, and the Lord entered with them; He sat down at their table; He gave thanks for the food, and broke the bread and vanished. Light had shone in that act of His, but now He had vanished. What are these two who had been straying to do? To remain in their house and speak of the wonderful event? To send messengers around to tell their friends about it, but remain in their house at Emmaus? No. They rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem. The Lord had not told them to return to Jerusalem; but the light that shone indicated that they should do this, and they hesitated not a moment. Thus if there be any here in any measure out of the way, and light comes in and convicts you of your error, delay not a moment, but return at once.
In our passage in John 6 light had shone, and the disciples entered into the ship, as it says: “having gone on board ship, they went over the sea to Capernaum”. You may ask, Did the Lord tell them to go [p. 383] to Capernaum? That is not said here, but the facts that ensue show that it was according to His mind, for He joined them in the voyage, and then it says: “Immediately the ship was at the land to which they went”. The Lord said nothing to them as to any mistake; on the contrary, He was with them in the voyage. He joined the ship, and they were immediately at their destination. So, as light shines into our souls, the word is: Move in it. Do not let apparent difficulties hinder you at all. The word is: “Be thou strong and very courageous” (Joshua 1:7). The rowing may be hard at the beginning: “it had already become dark, and Jesus had not come to them, and the sea was agitated by a strong wind blowing”. The natural mind would say to them: You have made a mistake, you have undertaken what you are not qualified for, but they had no such thoughts: they kept on rowing in the right direction. They kept on rowing, that is the point. The Lord is testing them; are they able to go on in a right way? The Spirit of God tells us how far, or about how far, they had rowed. The Lord knew the number of stadia they had gone: He intended them to cover those stadia. The Spirit of God is liberal in giving the account: “Having rowed then about twenty-five or thirty stadia ...” You will understand that this was not a motor-boat; they had to row, and real energy was needed to overcome the contrary wind and the waves. The position is dark and the work hard, but they are rowing. Then we are told in verse 19: “They see Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the ship”. If we understand clearly that we should do something which we have not yet been doing, let us begin straight away. The Lord will watch the struggle, more interested than any one of us; so He came “near the ship”. Then we are told that “they were frightened”. This indicates a state of soul that has to be guarded against; no one immediately said, ‘It is the Lord’, nor did they even ask. But He says to them: “It is I: be not afraid”. This is a supreme moment when, engaged in the work that we should have been doing, and now are doing, because light has been furnished that indicates that we should do it, the Lord comes in; a mighty power comes in. What can the winds and the waves do against Him? He has gone down into death and overcome it; He has annulled the power of Satan too. He says: “All power has been given me in heaven and upon earth” (Matthew 28:18).
Now He has joined in with them, and the boat is immediately at the land. It was “the land to which they went”, as if the Lord would say: ‘I know what was in your mind, and I know you found the way hard, but you took the right way, and you have made for the right land, and now you have reached it’.
I hope that these remarks will help us. It is a time for acting. Of course the world is acting; great things are happening from man’s point of view, but the Lord has caused light to shine upon us, and that light indicates something that we should be doing. He would say: “Be doing”, as I have instructed you, and I will be with you in what you do (1 Chronicles 22:16). As we are doing what He indicates we should do, He is with us in it.
I pass on to Joshua 5:13 - 15. This is a military matter. If we walk in the light as God is in the light, we shall encounter the opposition of the devil, as we have been seeing. Satan has military equipment, different from ours. Goliath’s military equipment was very different from David’s. Military affairs require suitable equipment — not Philistine weapons which men use, but divine weapons. David armed himself with these: a shepherd’s bag containing five smooth stones out of the brook (1 Samuel 17:40). He chose only five. He chose them from the [p. 385] brook of the valley — they would have been affected by the water. So David chose divine weapons, that is, the word of God, but such features of the word of God that can be used at a distance; he used artillery. The brethren will understand the difference between artillery fighting and hand-to-hand conflict. The Lord had to do with Satan directly; it was a hand-to-hand conflict. David had recourse to a sling. I need not go further into this wonderful story; we are familiar with it, but the idea of artillery finds place in spiritual warfare, as well as the weapons used in hand-to-hand fighting; hence the giant was brought down by the stone from David’s sling.
Joshua shines with David as one of the great military leaders of Scripture. In Joshua 5 we arrive at a crisis in the history of the warfare for Canaan. The matter was put into the hands of Joshua. Israel is over the Jordan; the actual conflict with the Canaanites has not yet begun, but still Joshua is the leader. The position is like that in any locality where God gives a lead among His people; the state of the saints is being tested, and it is discovered that there has been remissness. They had not been circumcised in the wilderness. If this negligence continues, defeat is certain, Joshua had so far moved in the light. The Jordan had been driven back; Israel had crossed over dry land. It was all the work of God so far, and Joshua was the personal leader, but until now we hear nothing of this negligence in the wilderness. Sins of omission are nearly on the same level as sins of commission. Ignorance may modify omission, but never will excuse it. Now in the early part of this chapter this matter is rectified. If there has been negligence in any of our gatherings, or in any one of us, God would now speak to us about it and point out why it is: the flesh has not been judged. They have now dealt [p. 386] with it, the reproach of Egypt is rolled away, and they are eating the old corn of the land. They have entered on heavenly ground.
Let us look into this matter, dear brethren. What ground are we on? Are we on wilderness ground, which admits of negligence, allowing certain features of the flesh? Hence the Lord has not yet come in. In our passage here it is said: “And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man before him with his sword drawn in his hand”. Joshua was not blind: he looked, we are told. We have been given eyes to use them, and if we use them in a spiritual sense we shall see wonderful things. So Joshua there saw a wonderful Person — a Man with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua, however, is not on the full level of the heavenly ground yet; he is somewhat on partisan lines. Even the leading men amongst us may fall into this error, and we may endeavour to use the Lord Himself to support us in our partisanship. Our prayers may be good, but the trend is to support our point of view. So Joshua says: “Art thou for us, or for our enemies?”
The man with the drawn sword said: “No; for as captain of the army of Jehovah am I now come”. Why did be not come before? Conditions were not suitable, it is thus we invite defeat and miss the victory by the admission of poor conditions amongst us. The Lord would lead us to see that local conditions are suitable. Do we disallow the flesh by circumcision? Do we eat the heavenly bread? Do we take the heavenly ground in our prayers and in all our actions? As soon as we do, the Lord says: I am going to take the lead amongst you. “As captain of the army of Jehovah am I now come”. Notice the word ‘now’; the Lord is saying: Conditions are right, and now I have come. Then Joshua [p. 387] worships. What a man he was, a man to be emulated — greatly honoured of God. His true worth shines here; he makes no excuses. He “fell upon his face to the earth”. He would say inwardly: It is the Lord; why should I excuse myself before Him? Instead of asking Him: ‘Art Thou on our side’, I should be on His side. The Lord has intervened in this military sense. Many brethren throughout the world know this. Many of us here know it. Do we all know it? If we do, the next thing is to join Him, recognise Him as Captain of Jehovah’s army. He has come in to give final victory to the assembly, that is the position; and Joshua indicates the attitude to be taken up by each of us — he falls on his face and he worships.
But the Lord would go further with him. Joshua says: “What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of Jehovah’s army said to Joshua, Loose thy sandal from off thy foot: for the place whereon thou standest is holy”. The Lord would convey this thought to every one of us; we are to be holy in battle even as in worship. So the Lord would have Joshua to understand that the very ground is holy, and he is told to take off his sandals. There is no complaint: “Joshua did so” — beautiful in his readiness for adjustment. Are we all ready at this moment for adjustment? Instead of bringing forward our eloquent excuses, why not do what Joshua did?
There is only a moment to say a word on Luke 24. It is an assembly meeting that is in view. I have spoken of the two who had erred, but the light having shone they returned immediately to Jerusalem; they came back at once to the point of departure. They did not stay in an hotel at Jerusalem for the night. They “found the eleven”, who represented the authority of Christ, though a broken number; it was not “the twelve”. So it is today,
[p. 388] the number is broken; but still there is the representation of the authority of the Lord, and I would urge anyone here, who is in any way disregarding that authority, to cease that attitude at once. We are told that the two returning believers “found the eleven, and those with them, gathered together, saying, The Lord is indeed risen and has appeared to Simon”. That means that grace is emphasised, for the Lord had appeared to Simon, who had so recently denied Him, and grace is supreme in the present dispensation. Then these two added their quota: “they related what had happened on the way, and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread”. Thus far the assembly went on happily and intelligently. The right things were being said; as we may say, suitable thanksgivings, suitable hymns, and the Lord comes in, as much as to say, I am ready to support you in this position. “And as they were saying these things, he himself stood in their midst, and says to them, Peace be unto you”. So that all is now ready from the Lord’s side for a perfect meeting. Yet, in spite of the fact that they were saying the right things, they were not ready for the Lord’s intervention, just as Joshua was not quite ready for Him, nor the disciples in the boat in John 6. The Lord nevertheless, who appeared to Joshua and came into the boat, now comes into the assembly, although they are not ready. I do not know of anything more challenging than this scripture.
The word is to be ready in moving on in what the light indicates: the Lord will surely be with us. What is indicated by Him for us is our responsibility: His end will certainly be reached, even if for the moment we are not quite ready for Him to come in, but let us be ready for adjustment. Let us not bring forward our eloquent excuses! The Lord has great displeasure in that; but if, as in Joshua’s case, we [p. 389] are submissive, He will come in and take charge. The verses read show that He did take charge in the assembly at this time. There is no exercise of will against Him at all, so that the desired end is reached. He sets them all right and leads them afterwards, and His leading is victorious leading. This is His attitude towards us, as towards all the gatherings in the world. We have reached a wonderful time! The Lord has come in to give the assembly a victorious end, and the appeal is to everyone to receive Him, or at least to be ready for adjustment. May God help us in that!