THE DAWN
[p. 330] THE DAWN
2 Peter 1: 19 - 21; Song of Songs 6: 10; Psalm 108: 1 - 13
Each of these scriptures contains an allusion to the dawn, and that is why they have been read. The principle that opens up in relation to the first is that of prophecy. What opens up in relation to the second, in the Song of Songs, is the appearance under the Lord’s eye of the saints collectively as moving in subjection. The third, that is the psalm, alludes to praise. Under these three heads I hope, by the Lord’s help, to present what would be profitable, and to that end earnestly solicit attention, that is, the hearing of faith. Faith comes by hearing, but it also hears. We can only hear aright as in the exercise of faith, and it is well to be reminded that we are enjoined not only as to what we hear, but as to how we hear. The same applies to reading the Scriptures. It is not only what we read, but how we read. As the Lord says, “How readest thou?” Faith is required, for God addresses Himself to us as possessing faith.
Now, as to the first scripture, the apostle Peter is the writer, as you will notice, and the chapter throughout deals with confirmation particularly in young believers, but not excluding old believers, that they should be confirmed in what they have believed. There is the thought of ‘since ye believed’ in Scripture. One enquires, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed?” (Acts 19: 2). We are challenged as to what has transpired in our soul’s history since we believed. Peter, about to put off his tabernacle, as he says, for the Lord Jesus had shown him that he was about to die as a martyr for the truth, is concerned in this epistle, to stir up the pure minds of the brethren, not so [p. 331] much in opening up new things as that they should be established in what they have received. In this remarkable instruction that he furnishes, he touches on the mount of transfiguration. He introduces it by way of confirmation, that it was the confirmation of what he and his fellow apostles ministered, that they had not spun the doctrines of christianity out of their own minds, as instanced in other religions in the world, particularly in the East. They had not followed cunningly devised fables but were eyewitnesses of the majesty of the Lord Jesus. They were eyewitnesses of the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ: three of them, of whom he was one, the only one who had been present who relates it, and so spake as they knew, as they saw that wonderful scene on the mount. He touches on the matter of prophecy, and says, “[p. 333] we have the prophetic word made surer”. That is, the confirmation of all Scripture was seen on the mount of transfiguration; as in a later day, the Lord, after He rose from among the dead, began from Moses and from all the prophets and interpreted the things concerning Himself unto certain persons, to believers, but straying ones at the moment. The Scriptures from Moses down to Malachi are just brimful of things concerning Christ. He is the theme, indeed, of all Scripture. Christ is the central theme of all Scripture, and so, in another instance, He says to His hearers, “Ye search the scriptures, for ye think that in them ye have life eternal, and they it is which bear witness concerning me” (John 5: 39). He was speaking to the Jews, but He says, they are they which testify of me, so that in reading the Scriptures or perusing them we do well to keep that in mind. We shall not get much help otherwise. It is a question of Christ, dear brethren, as He was seen on the mount, for Moses and Elias were there, representative of all the prophets; but particularly as [p. 332] He is seen after He rose from the dead. The Scriptures would have no meaning at all, no value indeed to us really, save in the light of Christ, not only His incarnation, but His death, and His resurrection. He came to die and to rise again. The Scripture had announced this. And in pursuing this line of thought the apostle Peter speaks in a most instructive way about the prophets.
I am not going into detail, but to remind you, dear brethren, that what we are enjoying, here tonight and what is enjoyed throughout the world is, under God, due to the devotedness of certain men and women about one hundred years ago, who as they were guided by the Spirit of God, made enquiries into the prophets. Those who know bear witness to the fact that prophecy was the chief enquiry at the beginning of this wonderful revival that we now are sharing in; and hence the importance of Peter’s word as to it. In the first letter he says that the prophets enquired into the salvation which the saints were at that time enjoying. They, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the others, enquired as to the application of their prophecies, and it was revealed to them, Peter tells us, that the things they ministered were not unto themselves but unto us. They searched “what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them pointed out, testifying before of the sufferings which belonged to Christ, and the glories after these” (1 Peter 1: 11). And it says that it was revealed to them that these ministrations were not to themselves, but unto us, looking on to the things ministered in the gospel by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven.
Now in the second epistle he touches again on the prophets, but in the sense of illuminating what they had already had, that the prophetic page is lighted up by the testimony of the gospel come in by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. So that we have the prophetic word made surer, he says. Not that it was anything else but sure, for the prophets never ministered by the will of man; they never devised anything from their own minds. There are apocryphal books that claim to be Scripture, but they are human productions, some utterly puerile, valueless really, and entirely to be repudiated. Peter is not alluding to these books; he is referring to books written by holy men of old, moved by the Holy Spirit. These are the only books to be accredited.
I have said all that, dear brethren, to induce you, according to the Lord’s mind, to look into the prophets. Every line of the prophetic word is for us, as Peter says, and it is to be read. All these prophets in the Old Testament are to be read in the light of the New. They are lighted up, confirmed, by the wonderful history of the gospels, and the epistles. The more you understand Paul’s letters, Peter’s letters, John’s letters, and the others, the more you will understand the prophets. The four gospels are the golden thread of confirmation of the prophets; it runs right through all the gospels, and the more we are instructed in the epistles and the gospels, the more sure will the prophetic word be made to us. We read it as Scripture, not simply as addressed to the Jewish people, but to ourselves. Every line of it is addressed to christians. Now, dear brethren, you will understand I am not suggesting that we should be diverted from what is properly christian, but the early thought I alluded to opened up the great dispensation, the great perspective. Every christian should understand, should be able to look on the great perspective that Scripture opens up. He should know where he is, where the assembly is, and where the Jewish nation is in the mind of God. He should know where all the nations are in the mind of God, since God is the God not only of the Jews,
[p. 334] but of the gentiles. He has the gentiles in mind and they will appear in the coming age for they are all to be blessed. There is to be a great system of nations blessed. They shall go away into everlasting life, and will be blessed under Christ in relation to God’s earthly people; and the heavenly side, inclusive of ourselves the assembly, is the great metropolis. The nations shall bring their glory to it. These are not simply things we should hold in theory as prophecies. They apply directly to ourselves, and, dear brethren, such marvellous things, such transcending things set out in the heavenly city, as inclusive of ourselves, should be of importance to us. Our minds should be ready to receive every bit of instruction available to us. Think of the glory of the heavenly city; the nations shall bring their glory to it, a wonderful system of things, permeated by spiritual intelligence. So the nations will understand the heavenly metropolis and respect it. They will own Christ. He is to be King of kings and Lord of lords. These are wonderful thoughts every christian should have. Each should be ready for every bit of light that is available in the prophecies so that these things, the prophetic word as Peter calls it, are made surer, and so that we may have no doubt as to it, he says, referring to the Old Testament. Prophecy is as a light shining in a dark place. The whole system is dark, the only light is that which shone among God’s people, and this light appeared in the prophets, through the prophetic word which they had; for to them, we are told, were entrusted the oracles of God. The prophetic word shone as light in a dark place during the Old Testament times, that is the Jewish times. All that has come down to us, and Peter says it is made surer so that we might understand how the ancient world stood, and that God had testimony in it, which has come [p. 335] down to us and is confirmed in christianity by the light and the truth and the Spirit of God.
So he says, “Until the day dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts”, that is the point, the dawning of the day. The world, the christian world, has assumed a shroud of darkness as the ancient heathen world had, but there is light in the holy scriptures, inclusive of the prophets, and the Spirit of God remains here, a wonderful fact. As indeed is said in the prophet Haggai, “The word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, and my Spirit, remain among you” (Haggai 2: 5). Think of that fact as we sit here tonight; it is not a mere theoretical position, but the word of the covenant and the Spirit of God remain here. Think of this marvellous fact that we as believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit as the Comforter, and we have the word of the covenant. Well, now, Peter says, in regard of this certainty, this confirmation of the prophets, that it is until the day dawn. And, dear brethren, one would enquire as to this dawn: “Until the day dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts”. The dawn is a great general thought. Many of us have seen it; as the sun begins to rise, or to be more accurate, as the earth revolves and the glimmerings of the great orb appear above the horizon, how full of hope it is; it has a peculiar effect on the observant mind. Peter alludes to it here, the dawn of the day of the glory of Christ is to be observed already, the sufferings stood in relation to the glory, the glory that is to follow. The rays of the rising sun are to be observed already, not indeed in the political sky. Let no one be deceived by the political sky. God is not operating there yet. Things are happening in the world, but Peter is alluding to what is happening in the believer’s heart, in our hearts. There are those who scan Europe, and we know from the prophets what [p. 336] will happen. God has furnished us with instruction as to what will happen, but let us remember that the understanding of prophecy lies in the position the Jew has, not the assembly. The assembly is not the subject of it at all. It lies outside the range of prophecy. So if you read the book of Daniel, you will find in chapter 11, a long chapter and difficult to follow, that while the Grecian empire is divided into four parts, the Spirit of God pursues two parts, the North and the South. These two members of the empire had to do with God’s ancient people. They fought their battles in the land of Palestine. So that in all the prophets, we have to understand it is a question of God’s dispensation on the earth, and as He has not returned to that yet, we shall never understand prophecy by looking at the map of Europe. I wish to direct you to what is spiritual. Peter says, until the day dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts. It is a question therefore of saints enquiring into their own hearts, not to become introspective, but as to what God is doing. His government goes on; that is another matter; it will go on; but the direct operations of God today are in the hearts of christians, and that is where you get your light. “Until the day dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts”. Has any one a doubt that that has taken place? You may have if you look into your own heart. Our hearts may be full of earthly prospects. If that is what is filling our hearts the morning star and the dawn will never arise in those hearts; there is no room. We need to have hearts suitable for divine operations. Paul says, even as to divine writing, the writing of Christ is in the hearts of christians. The concern is to be free, to be available to God as material for writing, and then for the great portending things, for the coming of the Lord. Our hearts are that material in which He sets out His great thoughts. “Until the day dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts”. The word is, “Son, give me thine heart”. See what our hearts are! Instead of understanding that earthly prospects are blighted with death, young people allow their hearts to be full of earthly hopes, and they shut out these great things of God that belong to eternity.
Now I go on to the Song of Songs. It is written to the earthly bride, but written for, us, you know, and it has a place in the prophetic word. “Who is she that looketh forth as the dawn, Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, Terrible as troops with banners?” These are wonderful figures. Nobody energised by his own ability would ever use such figures far-reaching, transcending, picturing the dawn, to symbolise the look of a person. Think of the magnificence of the figure! She looks forth as the dawn. What does it mean? It is Christ speaking, in figure, about His earthly bride. He looks on the remnant, their outlook will be like the dawn. Some of us are acquainted with the outlook of the few in the West. Their look is not like that, they are grovelling on the earth for the money it can afford them, and they will have it. I am not accusing anybody, only describing the difference between the Jew as having rejected Jesus and the Jew who will have his countenance looking forth as the dawn, as the dawn that is going to open very soon. What a beautiful thing it is to see the countenance of a young christian as the dawn. “Who is she that looketh forth as the dawn, Fair as the moon, clear as the sun”. How the Lord looks down into our countenances and would read below the surface and see what we are thinking of, what is our look, what is our objective, our mind, what is radiated in our countenance. What is in the face of the christian whose outlook is the dawn? He is full of light and expectations [p. 338] not of earthly prospects, but of heavenly ones, of the coming of Jesus. That is the hope, that is what occasions such a wonderful figure. She looketh forth as the dawn; it is the appearance of the countenance, what she looks like, with the greatest expectancy of something to come into view.
She is fair as the moon. Now, dear brethren, the meaning of that is that she is in subjection to Christ, not self-willed. This passage speaks of a willing people, the moon is a figure of what is subject, a figure of the assembly, or of Israel. In either case it is a question of subjection. All that she is, whatever is of moral worth in Israel or in the assembly, depends on subjection to Christ, reflecting the glory of Christ, as the moon reflects the glory of the great orb that dominates the day. The assembly reflects the glory that belongs to Christ, and how? By subjection. It is said to be subjected, not only subject; she is said to be in the attitude of subjection. That includes every brother and sister. It shuts out every thought of independency. There is no allowance of any confusion, of any other will, it is a question of united subjection to Christ, and how fair it is, how beautiful, fair as the moon, and then he goes on to say, clear as the sun.
There is no mistaking what the brethren say; they know things, and they are not dark or obscure. The apostle says, I speak as to intelligent persons. The assembly is regarded as characteristically intelligent. “We speak that which we know, and we bear witness of that which we have seen” (John 3: 11). That is to say, it is clear as the sun, everything is out, there is no hiding of things, but brethren are together in confidence and in transparency one with another; everything is clear. The Lord is looking down for these things. He uses these metaphors because they are applicable.
And then finally, “Terrible as troops with banners”.
[p. 339] That is to say, if rebellion will persist there is an army with banners, they are serving under authority, not independently. And woe to him who stands in self-will against the authority of the Lord in the midst of His people! The Lord is greatly to be feared in the assembly of His saints.
Now in Psalm 108 David says, “My heart is fixed, O God: I will sing, yea, I will sing psalms, even with my glory. Awake, lute and harp; I will wake the dawn”. Now this is not so easy to understand, but I think it is quite intelligible as we apply it to Christ, the spirit of Christ in David, as the great leader of song amongst His people. What a glorious thought that is. The Lord has brought it to our attention and there is much light in these last days on the last book of Psalms. The last book begins with Psalm 107, the one before this, and shows how the saints are to be gathered in the last days, corresponding with the thought of the remnant. The last book has wonderful significance in our time. It is the great ‘praise’ book, extending from Psalm 107 to 150. It is full of praise, especially in the closing sections. You can understand how the Lord in spirit would have part in this book, for it is a question of leading the saints in the service of song. There is no doubt that the Lord in instituting the Supper had this book in mind. The passover included certain psalms out of this book, and the hymn, which was sung by the disciples when the cup was drunk, was probably selected from this book. It refers to remnant times. They were that at the beginning, and we are that; we are those who have been recovered in these last days; we are of remnant character. This book, as I said, presents the Lord leading the praises. He says, “My heart is fixed”. If Jesus said that, and surely He could say it, it is that I should say it too. What a word it is for the young people that we should [p. 340] not be of double heart; that is a painful thing, a double heart. “My heart is fixed”, says the psalmist, and he goes on to say, “I will sing, yea, I will sing psalms, even with my glory”. Did it ever occur to you that, as a christian, you have glory? Jesus had infinite glory, even as a Man, but the christian has glory normally. The Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God rests upon the christian. Am I going to use it? Am I not going to bring my best into the glory of God in the assembly? Am I going to detract from the glory? Am I going to be a dark body in that realm? No, dear friends, “with my glory”, that is, with the best you have; you should be in the assembly with the best you have. And what is the best? “The Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God rests upon you”, for whom God has justified He has glorified; it is not that He will do it, He has done it. The scene is glorious, and my service in the temple, in the sanctuary, is to be with my glory. And then the point is “Awake, lute and harp: I will wake the dawn”. He is a man of energy. It is the Lord in spirit, I have no doubt. He is here in an exemplary way, that every christian is to be on this line. It is that for which I am called into the service of God and made glorious; and, as far as I am able, this is the line I am on. Introduce that into any meeting and think of it as to any part you may take. Is it going to wake the dawn? Am I going to lead on into that which is coming? That is the idea, lead on in power in the assembly, to the dawn, to the time when Jesus will be supreme everywhere, when the day has fully come.
It seems to me that everyone of us should have this in mind, as to whether I can break in on the dawn, whether my part is in such power that it leads on to the dawn. We leave behind us the darkness of Jerusalem; but what does the dawn lead to? It leads to a new day, to the rising of the Sun of [p. 341] righteousness with healing in His wings. We are looking forward, dear friends, always, in the assembly, and the part each one takes is to have in mind the awakening of the dawn.
These are the thoughts I had and I ask the Lord to bless them, that they may work out in our service, if the Lord permit, on the coming first day of the week.
“The Power that Worketh in Us”. Birmingham and elsewhere, 1938 (Volume 141).