WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT?

^[p. 331] WATCHMAN, WHAT OF THE NIGHT?

Happily for us, the scripture answers the question by giving us the heads of all events before us, namely, “The morning cometh, and also the night”. Blessed be God, the great and leading subject is the morning, the “morning without clouds”; and the harbinger of that great moment is “the bright and morning star”. The coming of our Lord, when we shall meet Him in the air, is the special hope given to us; and unless this hope forms and defines the end of all our expectation, there will be a defective way of looking at the night. It is, “in thy light shall we see light”; and it is as we have the brightness of His coming before us as our one simple, unmixed hope, that we shall be able, in the light of it, to form a true judgment of what is transpiring in the night. Unless the coming of the Lord is before me, I have not the true hope of the church before me, and all my works and services will be characterised by this defect. Without this hope I cannot have a true object for my heart, and if I have not, I cannot prevent other things from taking a place in my heart; so that the coming of the Lord, the harbinger of the day, must be my only polar star. What other hope could guide or cheer me but the return of Him who, having loved me and given Himself for me, has left me here during His absence to do His pleasure, in company with His own; and while pursuing with diligence the service that He has appointed to me, never to lose sight of that moment when I shall see Him and be like Him. Thus the morning star must be the hope of the true heart, and the way to judge of everything must be in the light of that day. The brightest moment is the one on which my heart is fixed, whatever intervenes; and because I am thus assured of it, and independent of all present things, I can truly and calmly analyse the nature of them; not to discover anything to divert me from my hope, but to ascertain anything and everything which would contribute to the name of my absent ^[p. 332] Lord, helping His people according to the grace given me. “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely”, Revelation 22: 17. Here, in view of the bright and morning star, is summed up the service of the church at the close of the night.

Now in order to carry out any branch of this service I have to come in contact with the night, with the many obstructions which the prince of darkness raises up to check and suppress the light. To note these various devices, and the energies which mark the night, is incumbent also on the watchman; always bearing in mind that he must not study the current and commotions here in themselves, but as they hinder or attempt to counteract the word of the Lord. If I am really set in heart and purpose on the morning, I am in the light and service of one waiting for His Son from heaven. I discover, by the light of God’s Spirit, the wiles of Satan, and thus the particular effect or pressure which the course of things here has on me and on the truth. If I study political or moral things in their own identities, I may discover the measure in which men are affected by them; I ascertain what they are in relation to man. But in order to understand them as they are in the sight of God, I must be in the power of the truth myself; for whatever is not truth or light is error and darkness, and as I know the truth, I discover the intent and place of the opposition to it. I judge and decide on what is bad by my knowledge of what is good, on the principle, “He that is not with me is against me”.

Now it is a known fact that more than fifty years ago there was a distinct awakening of the church to the coming of the Lord. The cry went forth, “Behold, he cometh”. The opposition to this truth by the enemy was first the attempt to weaken it by the startling and for a time uncontradicted assertion that no one was ready to meet the Lord, because we had not the Holy Spirit.

^[p. 333] This was refused and refuted by those who had learned that Christ in heaven was the Head of His body on earth, insisting on the truth that the wise virgins had oil in their vessels; that the right or privilege of every believer is to be sealed by the Spirit. Thus the gleam of light which had made a track for itself through the darkness of the night grew stronger and brighter. These truths as they were received greatly helped souls. The certainty of Christ’s finished work placing the believer not only in assurance of safety, but in his acceptance with God, was new and incontrovertible. How could a believer have Christ as his Head in heaven, unless he was first accepted in the Beloved; and how could he be here, united to the members of the body of Christ, if he had not received the Holy Spirit, which is the seal of being established in Christ? This truth, the true and only ground for peace, or life, or church position, was opposed in many ways. The drift of Puseyism was trying in some way to quiet the conscience by bodily exercise. Alas! many were thus turned away from the light. Satan had seen further for evil than his agents; and he had prepared the hood or blind for them before the light reached them. Many were propped up and deceived by devotional exercises as the means of obtaining rest for their consciences, long before the faintest glimmer of the light reached their eyes; so that when it did, they rejected or opposed it. Justification by faith was not opposed, but the certainty of full acceptance with God in Christ was utterly refused at first, because this truth leaves no place for religion in the flesh. Another form of opposition was the doctrine that Christ by incarnation connected Himself with man, in order to raise and restore the old stock, and not, as according to Scripture, that He died for all, and that, rising again, every one in Him is a new creation. It was reformation, not transformation. It is evident that this theory, which was openly taught in print, secretly and wickedly sought to divert the souls from the light.

^[p. 334] On this followed from within - that is, from among those who had accepted the light - a very serious defection from it, and one of great warning. It was taught, and influence was gained by the teaching, that the church will be in the tribulation; thus indirectly, and for a time unsuspectedly, the light was ignored by its professors, which up to this had survived many an opposition, and had penetrated far and wide. If the church be in the judgment, then it is not the body of Christ, bound to Him the Head in heaven; it is simply as many would maintain, a congregation of all believers, from Abel down to the last one - and then there is no body at all. As this obtained, there was a return to form, and a practical denial of the Spirit’s rule, and of the responsibility of the assembly to decide on matters of discipline; so that the principles which the light had disclosed and inculcated were rejected. Hence there was no option for the upright, for those really in the light, but distinct and absolute separation from this heresy, as it was eventually proved to be by the false doctrine which lay at the base of the system. It is to be noted here that leaven of independence which sprang up in connection with this opposition to the light has worked in many to this day, so that the very professors of the light are the great neutralisers of it - a great success to the power of darkness.

The light, having triumphed over this secret and well-constructed device, grew and increased in vigour and definiteness. Numbers received it, and there was a marked advance in intelligence, which enjoined and insisted on complete separation from the system of wickedness which had sprung up in their midst.

Now arose a new stratagem of the enemy, new in form and character. The light, as I have said, had greatly extended, and now the device or snare was to popularise it. At first this was hardly noticeable. Many earnest men went forth preaching the gospel, using every means to obtain large audiences, unintentionally and ignorantly ^[p. 335] departing from the great truth insisted on, when the light was simply held, that there was no power here for Christ but the Holy Spirit. However, the gospel extended, souls were saved, consciences were relieved; and that being gained, many sought no more. Salvation became the all in all, and the church, Christ’s interest and glory here in His body, was less noticed and cared for. This gave rise to a very peculiar state of things. There was a large company of preachers who avowed that they only sought the salvation of souls, and had no clear idea of where they should pasture; like one wearing coloured glasses, they had not the full scope of the light. This weakening of the truth was eventually gigantically headed up in the most public and effective way by those who taught that separation from the world order was neither incumbent nor necessary for the believer, thus making the gain of the soul the only aim and desire. Concurrently it was taught that holiness by faith could be reached without separation from any of the systems thus in spirit and in effect invalidating the great moral value of the light, that we are Christ’s body on the earth, and that now, with trimmed lamps, we are going forth to meet Him.

I am conscious that I could never even give an outline of the damage done to souls by this daring divorce of what God has joined together, namely, Christ’s glory and my blessing; but I would just give a few results of this, the latest contravention of the power and scope of the light.

First, unknowingly and imperceptibly, the mass of those who had received the light and owned that it was of God were leavened with the notion that the salvation of the soul was everything, even while they outwardly conformed to the truth of gathering together to the name of Christ as their true church position. Undivided attention to everything connected with the gospel marked them, and this with a surrender of the manner of life and separation in every line which members of the ^[p. 336] body of Christ on earth would feel bound to observe. Provided that the conscience was kept quiet and at ease as to the safety of the soul, everything else was secondary; and the formal appearance at the Lord’s table was more a corroboration of one’s faith in Christ than an expression, in joy of heart, of His body on the earth now in the fellowship of His death. Thus, with increase of numbers, there was no increase of power. Those who avow the truth as a whole, but really reject it - except as far as their own immediate gain is concerned - hinder and deform the teaching and testimony of those consistently holding to the full requirements of the truth.

It is not that there is not an increased number of true witnesses, but their work is thwarted and shaded by many who, while avowedly in company with them, are not in fellowship. A mixed thing is never very striking or impressive; the light is clouded by its associate. Hence, where much sacrifice would be entailed, men cannot see the same vigour and power in the advocates of the truth as in former days, when they were not connected with so mixed a company which neutralised their testimony. But in addition to this, the gospel, as far as ensuring salvation, can be heard outside and apart from separation; so that in a twofold way men in the world are less moved by the truth than they used to be. All this varied opposition to the light has given greater opportunity to the caviller, the infidel. He hears of theories and of assumption, but sees very little of the power of God’s Spirit putting a man in a new position here on earth, in open and manifest superiority to his former circumstances, so that all must own that it is supernatural and unprecedented in human society.

In conclusion, one word as to the line of service which would help souls in a day like this, and that which we must avoid. The one simple and eventually successful line is the maintenance of the truth in its integrity. “Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them”, 2 Timothy 3: 14. “Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life”, etc. (verse 10). No qualifying of the truth, the light which penetrated this dark night! We accepted in the Beloved, He our Head in heaven, and we, His body on earth, waiting for Him, going forth from everything here to meet Him. We must not follow, except with counsel and prayer, those who, even in real devotedness of heart, retire into isolation of any kind. Some are so tried by the lack of a distinct and sound testimony according to their mind, that they exclaim and assert that there is no remedy, and retire into isolation for their own rest and relief. Others, again, fall into the snare of being extreme, forgetting that exaggerated statements do not promote the truth, do not sanctify, but are weapons for the enemy to hinder and obstruct it.

Lastly, we are not to follow those who are so broad that everything is satisfactory to them, and who are thus becoming deadened to the beautiful traits and qualities of the light of life, which should mark the members of Christ on earth.

The Lord give His servants to do the work of an evangelist: “Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry”, 2 Timothy 4: 5. Like David’s mighty men, may they not only slay the enemy, but preserve the food for all Israel. We see something of what the character of the night is, but, blessed be God, the bright and morning star is our hope and cheer and guide to the end.