Nor was the conclusion unfounded, for every material was purchased by the blood of the Son of God, and laid in bountifully by the gracious owner. Every piece is hewn by the law in the work of conviction; every faculty purged from sin and guilt by the great atonement, received by faith in Christ Jesus; every plank bent by the fire of divine love, all fitted to their places by the invincible energy of sovereign grace, and the structure is completed according to the model prepared in the council of peace, and published in the gospel, which divine illumination is made visible to the mental eye, through which it is received into the heart, and leaves its impress there. Destined for a voyage of vast importance, in seas beset with dangers and perils, this new vessel will find nothing more needful than a strong and sound bottom.
If faith is not genuine and enduring; if those principles typified by the planks and timbers of a ship, be rotten or unsound at heart, not consistent with each other, and not shaped so as to lie compactly; or if each is not well secured by bolts of the endurable metal of eternal truth from the mine of divine revelation; if all is not carefully caulked with the powerful cement of unfailing love and redeeming blood; in a word, if Christ is not the sole foundation, and his righteousness the grand security, then on the slightest trial, the seams open, the vessel bilges, and every soul on board is lost.
From the hour of active conversion, the redeemed soul is launched upon the deep, and moves in a new element. As she proceeds onward, and greater depths surround her, the amazing wonders of divine counsel appear more manifest, which had hitherto been unknown and unfathomed by any human line; the latent corruptions within its own recesses appear more terrible as farther explored, and every new glimpse still more affrights and humbles; while the mysterious and inexplicable depths of divine Providence, with its mercies, judgments, and deliverances also rise to view.
She floats on an ocean of trouble, where temptations inflame the appetite, and weaken good resolutions, as worms pierce through and destroy the bottom of a vessel. Trials follow each other, as wave succeeds wave; nor should we feel ourselves alone, nor more sorely tempted than others, in this, since it is the experience of every one who floats upon life’s ocean billows. When our sorrows are mitigated, our thankfulness should increase: and when the clouds of grief become thicker and darker, it should wean us more effectually from earthly things, and kindle within us a more ardent desire for heavenly things.
Nor should the Christian repine at his afflictions, for he could not well do without them, since no means is more effectual to weaken the force of innate sin, or to wean him from his earthly idols, even as the heat of a furnace keeps the seething metal in commotion, while it separates and drives off the dross; or the unceasing rolling of the restless ocean, which, I am told serves to keep its waters pure. In contemplating the fickleness of this uncertain world, let us not fail to draw instruction therefrom.
Bound, as she is, to take a voyage on this restless, troubled ocean, the spiritual ship must not only be furnished with rigging suited to such a bottom as I have described, but she must also be provided with all necessary nautical instruments before she can safely put to sea; and oh, how carefully has her gracious owner been, that all her wants should be supplied.
An invariable and unfailing compass is furnished by the Sacred Scriptures, whose direction may be safely followed in the darkest night. The divine illumination will serve as a quadrant by which the Christian may discover his own latitude, and his position in regard to the path of rectitude and duty; but in vain will the most experienced seaman attempt to do this, unless his sun shines, and his horizon is clear.
How often, by persuading men to neglect the use of this quadrant, and thereby lose their true situation, has satan decoyed men to accept his pilotage, and trust to his skill, until he had led them clear out of the right course, to the very mouth of the gulf of despondency, among rocks and quicksands on all sides.
Through the spy glass of faith, the Christian may discover his faithful starry guides, although the heavens be shrouded in clouds; or may descry the approaching enemy, and avoid him; or may discover the far off haven of security. In the same manner self-examination may supply to the believing soul a line and lead, whereby to sound the waters, discover the way, and learn his distance, both from the port of departure and that to which he is bound.
A longing to arrive at a blessed end of the voyage, serves as an hour glass, by which he may mark the swiftly passing hours, and so reckon his time, that he may be able to give a correct account of it to the great ship owner; especially as he is sensible that not one hour can pass unremarked. This glass also admonishes him to set the watch at the exact minute, lest the steersman sleep at his helm, the hands slacken their diligence in duty, the vessel lose its way, or storms or enemies come unawares and find it unprepared. Precious moments, how swiftly they fly, every wave of the wing hastening us onward to eternity. Oh, that Christians would more carefully note their falling sands, and renew their watch more frequently. Failing to do this, caused David’s penitential agony, and Peter’s bitter tears of anguish.