Before Your Boat Sails...

       Turn a moment to Paul's epistle to the Philippians, 4th chapter, 3d verse: "And I entreat thee also, true yoke-fellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement, also, and with my other fellow-laborers whose names are in the book of life." Why, it is not only they themselves who know it, but Paul seemed to know their names are there. He sent them greeting, " whose names are in the book of life." My dear friend, is your name there? It seems to me it is a very sweet thought to think we can have our names there and know it ; that we can send our names on ahead of us, and know it is written in the book of life.

       I had a friend coming back from Europe, some time ago, and she came down with some other Americans from London to Liverpool. On the train down they were talking about the hotel they would stop at. They had got to stay there a day or two before the boat sailed ; and so they all concluded to go to the Northwestern Hotel; but when they reached Liverpool, they found that the hotel was completely tilled, and had been full for days. Every room was taken, and the party started to go out, but this lady did not go with them; and they asked her, ""Why, are you not coming'"' "No," said she; "I am going to stay here." "But how? The hotel is full." "Oh," said she, " I have got a room." " How did you get it?" " I telegraphed on a few days ago for one." Yes; she had alone taken pains to telegraph her name on ahead, and had thus secured her room. That is just what God wants you to do. Send your name on ahead. Have your mansion ready for you when you come to die. D. L. Moody

• Phoning Ahead: Giving and Receiving Calls To The Ministry
• The Call to Discipleship
• Seven Promises for Those Who Follow Jesus
  

The Ear-Trumpet Held Fast

       An aged sailor, on the coast of Kent, (Eng.,) was recently an object of much solicitude to some pious persons, who were acquainted with his state. He had passed his eightieth year, was so deaf that he could hear no one speak, and was rapidly advancing to the grave, as he could not take food, and would not employ medicine. The opposition he had manifested to divine truth was now diminished, but it was only as, in common with other objects of dislike, he became less sensible of their real character.

       The anxiety of those who pitied his spiritual condition was in consequence increased, and a speaking and an ear trumpet were both employed, in the hope of gaining an entrance to his mind. The experiment succeeded; he could now hear what was said, and truths of the first importance were plainly and faithfully stated. So offended, however, was he with the appeal of a Christian minister, that for ten days he would not allow him to be re-admitted to his room. But tracts - so often useful under the blessing of God - were not thus excluded, and he suffered several of them to be read to him, some of which proved both interesting and instructive. Still it was observed that he carefully removed the ear-trumpet whenever any part of a sentence bore hard on his state as a sinner before God.

       In his second interview, the minister made more guarded and careful approaches to the conscience of the old sailor, and by gradually exhibiting his state in the use of seafaring allusions, he awakened his attention. Aware of the artifice of his auditor, he held the ear-trumpet fast with his own hand, and by day and night he explained and enforced the great truths of the gospel of God.

       At length success crowned his efforts. Animated by the injunction - "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good;" he had the happiness of seeing that sailor, once so hostile to divine truth, humble, teachable, grateful, and prayerful. He died in the spring of 1839, in the attitude of prayer, leaving behind him satisfactory evidence that the language of devotion was followed by that of praise. His remains were interred before a small place of worship in one of the bays of the Kentish coast; and it is delightful to add, that his widow and three daughters rejoice, it is believed, in a scriptural hope of meeting him in glory. 

• How to Hear the Word of God
• How Should We Listen To God's Word?
• Hearing the Voice of the Lord in Your Pastor's Sermon

Education

       To what shall I liken education? I would liken education to a voyage: A great ship rides in dock near a flat shore covered with small, low houses, and troops of little people go on board. The ship swings away from the wharf and makes out for the open sea. Captain, mates, and most of the crew know the course and the haven; but the passengers never crossed before. It is a long, long, voyage through storm and calm, through cold and heat; a voyage of years; a voyage that tests faith. The years pass and the little people grow and grow. During the voyage most of the passengers go overboard into the open sea; but some make the voyage to arrive at a coast with mountains and valleys, cities and castles, a world of powers and of activities unseen by the dwellers upon the low coast on the other side of the sea of life.

Such is education. And the question is how to keep the passengers on board until the ship makes harbor. William Estabrook 

• There Go The Ships
• Dare to Leave The Boat
• Paul at Sea: A Seafaring Saga with Random Interruptions
  

Danger Stimulating Exertion

       In the homeward voyage of the Atlantic fleet, on its cruise around the world, a historian of its experiences tells of a rescue of one of the sailors in a great storm that arose. The storm was at its height and there ran through the fleet a report that the Minnesota had lost a man overboard. The signal, indicating that fact, went up to the foremast and the fleet stopt.

      Could they save the man? It was noticed that the Minnesota swung around a little, as if to afford a lee, and the Vermont following held true. A life-buoy had been thrown to the struggling man, and he, being a good swimmer, caught it, and drifted down toward the Vermont. Those on the Vermont saw him and ran their bow up close to him, turned it a little so as to afford shelter, and were preparing to lower a boat for him. A life-line was thrown overboard, and, to the astonishment of those on the Vermont, the man left the life-buoy and swam for the line. Those on board shouted to him not to do it; but he took the chance, swam to the life-line and wrapt it around his wrist and was drawn on board the Vermont. The next day we heard that there was a similar rescue by the Kentucky of a man lost from the Kearsarge.

      The imminent danger caused strenuous exertion. Similarly the man in moral peril can only keep out of danger by exerting all his powers.

• Our Lifeline
• Prayer: Our Lifeline To God
• Prayer: Our Lifeline To God

Tim Hughes sings "My Jesus, My Lifeline"

Christ Our Captain

       "Among the old war pictures I remember one of a captain of artillery bringing his battery into action. His whole soul was in the effort to rally his men and guns on the line. You could hear the thunderous roll of the wheels, crushing over all unevenness and hindrance, the frantic straining of the horses, the fearless, intense resolution of the men, and above all, the captain waving his sword, shouting his commands - but shot dead just as the guns wheel into line. Our Captain died rallying us, but He rose again, and He still has His dying enthusiasm of love for each one of us." - Franklin Noble, "Sermons in Illustration."

• The Storms of Life by J. Mike Minnix

Gage of Ability

" I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13 (KJV)

       Mr. Edmund Driggs, of Brooklyn, gives a motto that came into his life like an influence, and greatly helped him toward success. At the age of fifteen he left home to engage with an older brother in the freighting business on the Hudson River. The first duty he performed on the vessel was to go aloft to reef the pennant-halyards through the truck of the topmast, which was forty feet above the top of the mainmast, without any rigging attached thereto. When the sailing-master had arranged the halyards over his shoulder, with a running bowline under his right arm, he ordered him aloft. The new sailor looked at the sailing-master and then aloft, and then asked the question, "Did anybody ever do that?" "Yes, you fool," was the answer. "Do you suppose that I would order you to do a thing that was never done before?" The young sailor replied, "If anybody ever did it, I can do it." He did it. That maxim has been his watchword through life. Though he is now over seventy years of age, he is still engaged in active business life, and whatever enterprise he undertakes the watchword still is, "If anybody ever did it, I can do it."(Text.) - Wilbur F. Crafts, "Successful Men of To-day." 

Self-Conflict

       A friend once asked an aged man what caused him to complain so often at eventide of pain and weariness, "Alas," replied he, "I have every day so much to do. I have two falcons to tame, two hares to keep from running away, two hawks to manage, a serpent to confine, a lion to chain and a sick man to tend and wait upon."

       "Well, well," commented his friend, "you are busy indeed! But I didn't know that you had anything to do with a menagerie. How, then, do you make that out?"

       "Why," continued the old man, "listen. Two falcons are my eyes, which I must guard diligently; the two hares are my feet, which I must keep from walking in the ways of sin; the two hawks are my hands which I must train to work, that I may provide for myself and those dependent on me as well as for a needy friend occasionally; the serpent is my tongue, which I must keep ever bridled lest it speak unseemly; the lion is my heart, with which I have a continual fight lest evil things come out of it, and the sick man is my whole body, which is always needing my watchfulness and care. All this daily wears out my strength." Du Quoin Tribune

A Spiritual Sea Voyage

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       It is a time of new and thrilling interest in a family circle, when one or more in the family prepare to start on a strange and long journey for the first time. Maps are studied, railway and steamship guide books are diligently consulted, and the various routes of travel, and the places to be visited, are compared and re-compared. The study of geography is revived by every member of the family, and far away rivers, and mountains, and seas, and islands, and cities, in which there has never been any personal interest taken by the family, are suddenly invested with attraction for every member in the home. Oh! what a time it is; the buying of new strong trunks, and sorting out what will be needed, and then packing them full, it may be with many things that will never be needed, and leaving out some essential article that will be in demand before the journey ends. And then what a glowing fondness of special affection and interest is called forth for the particular ones who are going on the journey. They become all at once the centers of domestic devotion, and they are fairly drowned with affectionate attentiveness, and "God bless you" and wishes for a happy voyage. There is another voyage, far more thrilling in interest, upon a journey much longer, and across moral and spiritual mountains, and plains, and rivers, and seas, far vaster than the little surface of this earth, and to a distant port, brighter and more tranquil than any crystal harbor of tropic islands, and into a city whose magnitude and unfading splendor surpasses the dream of all the tower builders of this world; and upon this journey souls are constantly being urged by a sweet pleading voice that is evermore sounding over land and sea. Could we but draw aside the vail of time and sense, and watch the deep interest that angels and heavenly saints take in the conversion of a soul, and getting it embarked on a voyage for immortal glory; and could we hear the soft rustling of their wings, and catch the low whisper of their musical words, and see the sweet burning flashes in their love-lit eyes, it would infinitely out-do the packing of trunks, and the social interest of starting on any earthly journey. After all, is not everything on earth and in human life, a shadowing forth of things of a higher order, and of an age to come? 

       We propose in this little series of articles, to trace out a spiritual sea voyage, the journey of a soul from sin and self, through various stages, till it reaches its eternal home, in the capacious and unruffled harbor of the bosom of God's spotless love. Who will join us in our journey? We do not expect to return to the old Adamic homestead any more; as we are not only travelers, but emigrants as well, we shall sell out the old place back in the country, and leave all the old garments and rubbish behind us, and pack only a light luggage of essential things; and though for the first few stages in our voyage, our unweaned hearts may suffer a little natural home sickness for the old home of self, yet we will press on, till brighter and more ennobling scenes begin to satisfy the home instincts of our nature, and we not only get weaned from the past, but come to abhor what we once loved, and be drawn on with ever increasing fascination with the things of God. We will start from some plain, rugged country home, away back in the hills, where the people know nothing of ships, or of the great sea upon which they sail; for how true it is that man in his natural sinful state knows nothing of the ocean of God's nature, or of that spiritual commerce in heavenly things, which is carried on by devoted saints in the Holy Ghost. We shall first take a humble canal boat which is towed by a mule, till we come to navigable water. This canal boat represents the lowest state of legality in religion, of a soul that has no propelling power on board itself, bat is drawn along by the persuasion or the authority of some friend, or church, or social law. When we reach the terminus of the canal, we will get into a row boat, and seize the paddle, or the oar, and try the strength of our muscle and skill in crossing the river or the harbor. This row boat represents the second stage of legality in religion, where the soul is awakened more personally about the things of God and eternity, and begins to exert all its strength and knowledge to be good, to break away from sin, and keep the commandments. This row boat state is higher than the canal boat, because the moving energy is on board, in the form of an awakened conscience, and a decision in the will for righteousness. In the next place, having exhausted our strength in rowing, we get on board of a small sail vessel, that is wafted along by the Creator's energy in the wind. This represents a tired soul, after struggling to get right, and exhausting itself, giving itself up in simple faith to Jesus; to be born again by the blowing of the wind of the Holy Spirit, for Jesus says, 

"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3:8 (NIV)

In every place in Scripture where the Holy Spirit is compared to the wind, it is in connection with imparting life, and so our sail vessel is a type of the regenerated state in our voyage. After coasting in the bay, and along the shore, in a small sail boat, which represents the youthful experience in justification, we then board a great sail ship, and go out on the high seas, which represents the strong and established experience of the believer in the justified life. This stage in our pilgrimage furnishes us with some beautiful studies in spiritual navigation, and we have occasion to find our latitude and longitude in the things of God, and how to use the compass of God's Word, and the log of inward experience. Then after finding the great invention of steam, and of how ships can have their sailing apparatus transferred from the outside down into the heart of the vessel, in the form of engine, and fire, and water, and steam, developing a new and mightier force for propelling us along, we take passage on the steamboat, which in our allegory sets forth the sanctified life, the hidden fire of the Holy Ghost working in the heart, and pushing the soul onward with amazing zeal. And as the steamboat is a new creation, and not the mere development out of a sail vessel, so our entrance into the sanctified state, is a specific work of grace, and not a gradual evolution from pardon. After taking a steamboat, we linger awhile with some side wheelers and coast steamers, and make a detour into some rivers and bays, and along coast lines, in order to accommodate some timid souls that are afraid, or have no calling to go beyond the sight of land; which fitly corresponds with a class of sanctified people, who in their feelings and service for God, keep under the shelter of their particular sectarian doctrine or leaders. We next transfer to a staunch little steam tug, that is built for marvelous strength and utility in helping other ships, which beautifully agrees with those sturdy, great hearted saints, that have special gifts and calling for pulling souls off the rocks, and out of storms, and into harbor. In the next place we take voyage on a great iron ocean liner, and have occasion to witness the true grandeur of a steamship at sea, in storm and calm, which sets forth the strong and manifold experiences under the guiding power of the Holy Spirit.

       We then board a great man-of-war, a floating fortress, the special property and instrument of the government, and find an opportunity for fighting some battles, which typifies those conditions of extraordinary heroism and conflict in the lives of great reformers and spiritual leaders, who are God*s chosen agents to pioneer His work, to head new religious movements, and open up new realms of Bible truth, or missionary operations. By this time we have got into the confidence of ship builders, and government officials, and are quietly taken on board of a sub-marine ship, run by electricity, and sink entirely out of sight in the depths of the sea, and explore that vast, tranquil, hidden world of wonders, which blessedly sets forth the ultimate stage in the sanctified life on this earth, of sinking down deep into God, in a life of marvelous prayer, and unearthly stillness, where the vast silent waters of the divine perfections are explored, and studied, and admired with ever increasing delight, and the soul is lost in a sea of love, and prayer, and divine contemplation. Come, are you ready to start? The time is up, I hear the horn of the canal driver blowing for the locks to open and let down the boat, as it takes its first step towards the sea. All aboard for the river of grace, for the ocean of love, for the City of God, whose white glittering towers and sweet voiced inhabitants, are inviting us far away across the ocean. Watson