IN the summer of the year 1902, I was crossing L the Atlantic Ocean from Quebec to Liverpool, in the Liner Megantic.
My large cabin was on the upper deck, close by the place where the passengers were accustomed to play the various games which are usual on board ship. Consequently it became the rendezvous of many who were interested in the games, including, occasionally, officers of the ship's company.
AN ANNOUNCEMENT AND A QUESTION.
One morning, when one of the Chief Officers and several passengers were chatting and yarning in my cabin, the officer said to me: "I say, Major, you will be glad to hear that, on Sunday morning, we shall have service in the saloon. It will be conducted by Rev. Doctor—," naming an eminent minister on board who had a large church in Montreal.
“I hope he is a good, sound preacher," said I, "and that he may interest and help us.”
“Oh! yes," replied the officer; "you will be sure to like him; he is so broad-minded.”
“Is he really?" I responded. "But what do you mean by broad-minded '?”
"Well," replied the officer, "he takes a cheerful view of life; is always ready for a game at cards if the stakes are not too high; and he does not condemn us all to hell if we don't happen t agree with his religious opinions, if we don't see our way to accept all the ancient creeds.”
A STRIKING ILLUSTRATION.
When the officer had finished his flippant remarks, there was a brief pause in the conversation, after which I said: "Look here, gentlemen. May I give you an illustration, which has just now occurred to me? It is this: Supposing one of you had met me in Quebec a day or two previous to our sailing, and that the following conversation had taken place Where are you going?' you ask me.
I am about to take my passage to Liverpool,' is my reply.
`What vessel are you going in? '
I am going in the Megantic.'
'Are you really? Would it be safe to do so? `Certainly. Why not? Is there anything wrong with the ship? '
'No: the ship is all right; but what about the captain? I distrust him entirely.'
Indeed! Why do you distrust him? '
Well, I will tell you. I understand that, in the exercise of his profession as captain, he prides himself on being, as he says, a broad-minded? man; that he has his own ideas and notions about navigation; and that he refuses to be bound, or even influenced, by the opinions or experiences of any other captain. Sometimes he takes one route, and sometimes another, just as his fancy inclines him. He pays no attention to the compass, but sails by dead reckoning of his own devising. He seldom, if ever, steers by the government chart; and indeed, he spends much of his time in declaiming and ridiculing it, alleging that it is full of blunders, and, therefore, is unreliable”
SHALL THE CAPTAIN BE TRUSTED?
“Now, Sir," said I, turning to the chief officer, "What would have been your advice in such a case, and under such circumstances? Ought a captain of that kind to be trusted?”
“Well," he replied, "I think you are rather hard on me, Major.”
“What!" said I, "does the cap fit so tight that you can't get it off?”
At this point, there was a shout of laughter all round, which was followed by another pause.
“Gentlemen," I resumed, "I am waiting for some reply, which none of you seem anxious to give.”
Immediately, however, an unmistakable Yankee, who was sitting just opposite me, drawled out: "Well, Major, I guess I wouldn’t go to sea in that yacht!”
Honest and sensible man! Who but a fool would entrust his life to the hands of such a captain, who steers his vessel according to his whims and fancies, and not by the government chart.
ANOTHER VOYAGE AND AN INFALLIBLE CAPTAIN.
There is another voyage which we all have to take-the voyage across the ocean of Time to the unknown land of Eternity!
On that voyage, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Chief Captain; and He will guide safely all those who put their trust in Him.
He has provided an unerring chart—the Holy Bible; and that chart will lead aright all those who follow its teachings.
Moreover, He has also supplied a dependable Compass—the Holy Spirit; and that gracious Spirit is always available.
Furthermore, He has provided pilots and captains—whom He calls "Pastors and Teachers" (Eph. 4:1111And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; (Ephesians 4:11))—whose duty it is to obey His directions, to study and follow the chart, and to explain and commend it to others.
DISLOYAL PILOTS AND CAPTAINS.
But alas! today, there are many so-called pilots and captains who are disloyal to the Chief Captain. They make it their boast that they are not "traditionalists," "‘obscurantists," and "narrow-minded bigots;" but that, on the contrary, they are "BROAD-MINDED MEN." They even claim that they know more about the ocean of life and spiritual navigation than did the Chief Captain Himself. This, however, is scarcely to be wondered at; for alas! in the universities and colleges, they have been taught that, in His Rules for Sailing over the Sea of Time, He made mistakes; that the Compass is sometimes deflected; and that the Chart is "out of date," "behind the age," "full of errors," and "not to be relied upon.”
THE JEOPARDIZED PASSENGERS.
And, sad to relate, tens of thousands of men and women who would never think of risking their lives by going to sea with an ignorant or a reckless captain, are, nevertheless, imperiling their eternal salvation by trusting to those ecclesiastical pilots and captains who disregard the divine chart, and who substitute in its stead the misleading and dangerous quackeries of Materialism, Spiritism, Christian Science, Theosophy, and so-called Higher Criticism!
THE OLD INFIDEL SHIP WITH A NEW NAME.
These pretentious and fantastic speculations, which, metaphorically, may all be summed up in the one title—The New Navigation Theology—are just a modern rehash of the Devil's lie, first spoken in the Garden of Eden:—" Yea, hath God said” Our first parents—Adam and Eve—through believing this lie, made shipwreck of their faith and happiness.
GOD HAS SPOKEN; and has revealed Himself to mankind. The Bible is His infallible chart for our guidance across the treacherous ocean of life. It is complete, and final. By denying or questioning these facts, the boasted "broadminded" New Navigation Theology proves itself to be the ancient ship of infidelity with an alluring and a deceptive modern title.
I would, therefore, earnestly implore you, dear reader—
Then, through Divine grace, you will be saved and safely guided and guarded throughout the voyage of life; and, in due time, you will be landed triumphantly and blissfully upon the shores of the Eternal City of God.