THE OLD SHIP OF ZION

Matthew Eight, Mark Four, Luke Nine

Sermon of the Week #200912 – April 19, 2009

The voyage of the Lord and His Apostles on the Sea of Galilee in Matthew, Mark, and Luke has similarities to the Old Ship of Zion launched on the Day of Pentecost. In Second Timothy 4:6 Paul refers to his death sentence as a departure, and that word has the meaning of a loosing, such as a ship loosed from its moorings, and sailing out on a voyage.

This is especially appropriate for Paul as we think of so much of his ministry associated with the sea. A casual glance of his life from Acts chapter 13 though 28 reveals at least fifteen times where such statements are made as: “And they being sent forth by the Holy Spirit went down to Seleucia, and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. . .And we sailed away from Philipp. . .And when it was determined that we should sail for Italy. . .Setting out therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and from thence to Neapolis, and from thence to Philippi. . .And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came to Troas in five days.” And there were several other mentions of various voyages, and in addition to that, we read in 2nd Corinthians 12:25 where he said, “Three times I was shipwrecked, and a day and a night have I been in the deep.” So Paul’s life was like a voyage.

One ship sails east, another sails west,

By the self-same winds that blow

‘Tis the set of the sail, and not the gale,

 That determines the way they go.

And like the winds of the sea are the ways of time,

As we journey on through life

‘Tis the set of the soul, that determines the goal,

And not the calm or the strife.

And who can forget at least a couple of verses from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, Crossing the Bar:

“Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me

And may there be no moaning of the bar, when I put out to sea.

Twilight and evening bell, and after that the dark,

And may there be no sadness of farewell when I embark.”

So come on, walk up the gangplank for a cruise on the Old Ship of Zion.

THE CREW

The first thing we notice is the crew on this voyage. Luke 12:6 informs us that Jesus, early in His ministry, went up into a mountain and continued all night in prayer. Then the next day He looked over many of the disciples and called twelve of the many and named them Apostles. That was the crew Jesus had with Him on this voyage on the Sea of Galilee.

About three years later, after the resurrection and ascension, the Apostles waited for further word and their names are given again: Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Barthelomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. And that was the same crew Jesus used before on the Sea of Galilee, and He still uses that same crew on the Old Ship of Zion today by their words, minus Judas Iscariot.

And even though the Apostles have all finished their earthly course, they still serve as the crew today on the Old Ship of Zion because the Lord Jesus told them in John 14:26, “But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send you in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said unto you.”

Jesus did not trust the memory of the Apostles to write the story of His words and actions; He sent the Holy Spirit to prod their memory. Therefore, when we read the Word of God, we know we are reading what really happened, and what Jesus really wants us to know. The same crew that went on that voyage on the Sea of Galilee is still the same crew on the Old Ship of Zion today.

OLD SHIP OF ZION IS UNSINKABLE

Now we notice that the Old Ship of Zion launched on the Day of Pentecost is still afloat today because it is unsinkable. When Jesus was awakened by the crew and informed of the immediate danger of capsizing, the Lord did not seem in any hurry about stilling the tempest. His first concern seems to be the lack of faith of the crew, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?”

Matthew says the crew awoke Him saying, “Save us Lord we perish.” Mark says they also said, “Carest thou not that we perish?” Luke expressed their urgency, “Master, Master, we perish.” Jesus awoke and took valuable time upbraiding them for their lack of faith while the boat was full of water and could sink immediately.

The reason He did not still the tempest first and then question them of their faith was because even if the storm had increased in power, the boat was in no danger of sinking. The gospel song says it best, “No storm can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and land and sky.”

And the same thing applies to the Old Ship of Zion even unto this day. According to Matthew 16:18 Jesus said of the Church He would build, “The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The Old Ship of Zion is here today, and is unsinkable. Jesus had said to the crew when they began that voyage on the Sea of Galilee, “Let us cross over unto the other side,” and regardless of the storms that night, they were destined to land on the other side.

It is also true today as far as the same Old Ship of Zion is concerned, and the words regarding a shipwreck where Paul was involved can be applied for us in Acts 27:44, “And it shall come to pass that we all escaped safe to land.”

THAT GREAT TEMPEST IN THE SEA

Now the next thing to notice is the tempest itself. When Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave orders to enter into the boat. Just as soon as they set sail a great tempest arose and the boat was filled with water. This should come as no surprise, because a ship is built for the water, and the Church was built for the world. Water is the natural enemy of a boat, and the world is the natural enemy of the Church. If you are sailing in the Old Ship of Zion you are going to have troubles, and remember when it happens, Jesus is the one who sent you into the storm. It does not appear that the Apostles all had smooth sailing.

On the day the Old Ship of Zion was launched, it looked like smooth sailing. Three thousand booked passage, and all things looked like smooth sailing. Then Peter and John were jailed overnight; three thousand became five thousand; then all the Apostles who were beaten, rejoiced in it, and many were scattered abroad. And they continued to preach Jesus Christ risen up from the dead, and from thereon throughout the inspired history of the twenty-eight chapters of the book of Acts the storm raged, and the Old Ship of Zion sailed on in triumph.

We receive letters almost weekly that tell of churches closed by the government in various nations. Members of churches write and tell of being put in jail for having a Bible, and yet they continue to worship, and beg for more Bibles. But the Old Ship of Zion in many places is facing the rough weather of torture and physical persecution, and yet she continues to sail forward to the shore Jesus mentioned when He said, “Let us cross over unto the other side.” Here in America, Satan uses the weapon of ridicule, and many try to keep a low profile around people of the world lest they be called ignorant red necks. There is a song that says, “Must I be wafted to the skies on flowery beds of ease? While others fought to gain the prize and sailed through bloody seas?”

I do not know that I can tell of any Church that is free from internal problems. I do not know of any Church that either has a problem, or is just getting out of a problem, or is getting ready to get into a problem. The Devil and the world will see to that. If you don’t have any just now, wait a while.

Over twenty centuries later things have not changed. Some of the congregations of the Old Ship of Zion are in a state of mutiny. They have taken over the ship and set the Apostles’ teaching adrift; as Paul indicated in 2nd Timothy 4:3-4, “They could not endure the sound doctrine; but have turned away their ears from the truth, and turned aside unto fables.”

Mark 4:37 informs us, “A great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat.” Those winds still beat into the Old Ship of Zion unto this day.

One of the winds will be the Hurricanes of Heresy. In Acts 20:29 Paul instructed the elders of the great Church of Ephesus in his farewell address, “I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock, and from among yourselves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.”

Another wind that blows the Icebergs of Indifference our way and that threatens greater damage to the Old Ship of Zion than the one that sank the Titanic.

An example of this indifference is found in Matthew 24:12: “In the last days, iniquity shall be multiplied and the love of the many shall wax cold.” Hebrews 2:1 says, “Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest haply we drift away from them.”

And then a third example of the wind that beats into the boat are the Gales of Godlessness as mentioned in 1st Corinthians 6:9-11, “Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye sanctified, ye were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

WHAT MANNER OF MAN IS THIS?

And now this question as to the identity of the Lord on this voyage of the Old Ship of Zion; when Jesus arose, according to Matthew and Mark He rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm. Luke makes the great calm of the waters more explicit when he calls it the raging of the water; and they ceased, and there was a great calm. Normally when a storm ceases, the water keeps rolling gradually to the calm. Not so with the Lord; the calm was absolute, and immediate. That is why the Apostles declared according to Matthew, “What manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

It may seem a little strange to us that they referred to Him as a man, until we notice that Jesus was asleep. Sleep is something that men do. But God does not sleep according to Psalms 121:4: “Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” But after the storm they called Him a man. He not only slept, but He hungered for food. We hear the Apostles say to Him in John four, “Rabbi, eat”, and just before this He said to the woman at the well, “Give Me to drink.” So they were right in calling Him a man.

He was a man, because John 1:14 tells us, “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.” And He was the man Paul referred to in Philippians 2:11, “Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, being obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore God highly exalted Him, and gave unto Him the name that is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven and things on the earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

THE SALVATION OF THE CREW ON THE OLD SHIP OF ZION

And now here is the final observation as to the salvation of the passengers on the Old Ship of Zion. When the storm was at its worse and seasoned sailors could not cope, they gave up and turned to the sleeping Jesus and cried out, “Save us, Lord, we perished!” They cried out for salvation from the storm and Jesus answered the prayer.

On the voyage the answer to salvation was the same, with a little difference. On the Old Ship of Zion that sailed the Sea of Galilee they were already on board the ship before they cried out, “Lord, save me!” They were asking for salvation from the storm.

On the sea of the world the question of salvation came up before they came aboard the Old Ship of Zion. Peter began as he explained how the Apostles could speak in such a way that everyone could understand the message he was about to preach, and in Acts 2:21 he declared, “And it shall be that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

And then he began the message with these three words, “JESUS OF NAZARETH”. Then he told how Jesus was born, told of His mighty miracles, went about doing good, healing all oppressed by the Devil, and then he recited the trial, conviction of Jesus, and His resurrection and ascension to Heaven to sit on the right hand of God, until all His enemies are put under His feet. At this moment He told them they had killed the Lord, and then they, being pricked in their hearts, cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

Remember Peter said, “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” So he told them, “Repent ye and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” They had called on the name of the Lord, and three thousand did what the Lord wanted them to do to be saved. Acts 2:47 states, “And the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved.”

CONCLUSION

Many years ago, about a week before as I was poised to enter the Bible College, the Church had a two-week revival meeting, and because the city was the home of the largest privately owned shipyard in the nation, the two song leaders wanted to have a theme chorus that would be fitting for the meeting. So they began each service with a chorus with these lines:

We’re sailing home

We’re sailing home

O won’t you come on board

Our Pilot is the Lord

We’re sailing home

We’re sailing home

To the land of endless days.

It has been a long cruise for many of us, but we can rejoice in the prophetic words of Jesus, “Let us cross over unto the other side.”