Act 27:38 | KingComments | STEP | Then comes the moment when the sailors have eaten enough. It is typical that at that moment they throw the wheat overboard. This is reflected in the history of the church. After a period of great desire for God’s Word a period of complacency follows. It can be compared to the two periods we find in Revelation 3 in the messages to the church in Philadelphia and to the church in Laodicea. Philadelphia shows us the period of the revival. Laodicea shows us the period that follows the revival. In Philadelphia there is warm love for the Lord expressed in love for His Word ( ). In Laodicea there is complacency, through which that love has cooled down to lukewarmness and moderation ( ). Indifference to the food of God’s Word has come. It has been thrown overboard. The good of faith has been thrown away. That is what those who are shipwrecked as far as faith is concerned do. The truths of the Christian faith are no longer appreciated. In earlier years Christendom had always expanded, but now there is a decline of Christendom in the countries where it first progressed. Now Christendom is gaining field in the poor parts of the world. In the Western Christian, wealthy countries, the great apostasy is emerging. When the Word of God is no longer food, also the recognition of the land disappears by the time it becomes day. The anchors are cast off. Christian hope – of which the anchor is a picture ( ) – is given up. From the pulpits it is preached that with death it is over and out. Attempts are still being made to head the ship for the beach to moor it gently, but they fail because of a reef. The ship gets stuck on the reef and breaks in two. One part remains stuck immovable, the other part is completely smashed apart in planks and wreckage. We also see this picture in the end time. The one part of the ship that remains whole represents the ecumenism where one wants to be a unity at any price. The other part is the fragmentation into countless sects, where one separates oneself at all costs from everything that does not correspond to one’s own ideas ( ).

‏ Acts 27:38

The Ship Perishes

Then comes the moment when the sailors have eaten enough. It is typical that at that moment they throw the wheat overboard. This is reflected in the history of the church. After a period of great desire for God’s Word a period of complacency follows. It can be compared to the two periods we find in Revelation 3 in the messages to the church in Philadelphia and to the church in Laodicea.

Philadelphia shows us the period of the revival. Laodicea shows us the period that follows the revival. In Philadelphia there is warm love for the Lord expressed in love for His Word (Rev 3:8 ; 10). In Laodicea there is complacency, through which that love has cooled down to lukewarmness and moderation (Rev 3:15-17). Indifference to the food of God’s Word has come. It has been thrown overboard. The good of faith has been thrown away. That is what those who are shipwrecked as far as faith is concerned do. The truths of the Christian faith are no longer appreciated.

In earlier years Christendom had always expanded, but now there is a decline of Christendom in the countries where it first progressed. Now Christendom is gaining field in the poor parts of the world. In the Western Christian, wealthy countries, the great apostasy is emerging.

When the Word of God is no longer food, also the recognition of the land disappears by the time it becomes day. The anchors are cast off. Christian hope – of which the anchor is a picture (Heb 6:18) – is given up. From the pulpits it is preached that with death it is over and out.

Attempts are still being made to head the ship for the beach to moor it gently, but they fail because of a reef. The ship gets stuck on the reef and breaks in two. One part remains stuck immovable, the other part is completely smashed apart in planks and wreckage.

We also see this picture in the end time. The one part of the ship that remains whole represents the ecumenism where one wants to be a unity at any price. The other part is the fragmentation into countless sects, where one separates oneself at all costs from everything that does not correspond to one’s own ideas (Jude 1:17-19).