CALL TO SAILORS.
One of the children asked us at the tea-table if we had ever preached at
sea. We answered, No! but we talked one Sabbath, mid-Atlantic, to the
officers, crew and passengers of the steamship "China." By the way, I have
it as it was taken down at the time and afterward appeared in a newspaper,
and here is the extract:
No persons bound from New York to Liverpool ever had more cause for
thanksgiving to God than we. The sea so smooth, the ship so staunch, the
companionship so agreeable, all the circumstances so favorable. O Thou who
holdest the winds in Thy fist, blessed be Thy glorious name for ever!
Englishmen, Costa Ricans, Germans, Spaniards, Japanese, Irishmen,
Americans--gathered, never to meet again till the throne of judgment is
lifted--let us join hands to-day around the cross of Jesus and calculate
our prospect for eternity. A few moments ago we all had our sea-glasses up
watching the vessel that went by. "What is her name?" we all asked, and
"Whither is she bound?"
We pass each other on the ocean of life to-day. We only catch a glimpse of
each other. The question is, "Whither are we bound? For harbor of light or
realm of darkness?" As we decide these questions, we decide everything.
No man gets to heaven by accident. If we arrive there, it will be because
we turn the helm, set the sail, watch the compass and stand on the
"lookout" with reference to that destination. There are many ways of being
lost--only one way of being saved; Jesus Christ is the way. He comes
across the sea to-day, His feet on the glass of the wave, as on Galilee,
His arm as strong, His voice as soothing, His heart as warm. Whosoever will
may have His comfort, His pardon, His heaven.
Officers and crew of this ship, have you not often felt the need of divine
help? In the hour of storm and shipwreck, far away from your homes, have
you not called for heavenly rescue? The God who then heard thy prayer will
hear thee now. Risk not your soul in the great future without compass, or
chart, or anchor, or helmsman. You will soon have furled your last sail,
and run up the last ratline, and weathered the last gale, and made the last
voyage. What next? Where then will be your home, who your companions, what
your occupation?
Let us all thank God for this Sabbath which has come to us on the sea. How
beautifully it bridges the Atlantic! It hovers above every barque and brig
and steamer, it speaks of a Jesus risen, a grave conquered, a heaven open.
It is the same old Sabbath that blessed our early days. It is tropical in
its luxuriance, but all its leaves are prayers, and all its blossoms
praise. Sabbath on the sea! How solemn! How suggestive! Let all its hours,
on deck, in cabin, in forecastle, be sacred.
Some of the old tunes that these sailors heard in boyhood times would sound
well to-day floating among the rigging. Try "Jesus, lover of my soul," or
"Come, ye sinners, poor and needy," or "There is a fountain filled with
blood." As soon as they try those old hymns, the memory of loved ones would
come back again, and the familiar group of their childhood would gather,
and father would be there, and mother who gave them such good advice when
they came to sea, and sisters and brothers long since scattered and gone.
Some of you have been pursued by benedictions for many years. I care not
how many knots an hour you may glide along, the prayers once offered up for
your welfare still keep up with you. I care not on what shore you land,
those benedictions stand there to greet you. They will capture you yet for
heaven. The prodigal after a while gets tired of the swine-herd and starts
for home, and the father comes out to greet him, and the old homestead
rings with clapping cymbals, and quick feet, and the clatter of a banquet.
If the God of thy childhood days should accost thee with forgiving mercy,
this ship would be a Bethel, and your hammock to-night would be the foot of
the ladder down which the angels of God's love would come trooping.
Now, may the blessing of God come down upon officers and crew and
passengers! Whatever our partings, our losses, our mistakes, our disasters
in life, let none of us miss heaven. On that shore may we land amid the
welcome of those who have gone before. They have long been waiting our
arrival, and are now ready to conduct us to the foot of the throne. Look,
all ye voyagers for eternity! Land ahead! Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning.
What Paul said to the crew and passengers on the corn-ship of the
Mediterranean is appropriate here: "Now I exhort you to be of good cheer!"
God fit us for the day when the archangel, with one foot on the sea and the
other on the land, shall swear by Him that liveth for ever and ever that
time shall be no longer!