Many a new idea is quite pretty to look at—as pretty as some of those flimsy fabrics made to catch the eye. Like those fabrics though, they are very disappointing in actual use, being simply no good at all when it is a question of facing the rough wear of everyday life.
For downright hard wear there is nothing like the sweet old gospel of the grace of God. It stands alone, without a rival. Beyond the rough and tumble of this world there stretches eternity with its vast issues, and into that eternity we, men and women, must enter because our spirits are immortal. Where will you find a clue to lead you through the labyrinth? Where will you find the peace and joy that cannot be quenched by the sorrows of this world or the pangs of death itself?
The men who go down to the sea in ships see as much of the rough side of life and death as most of us, and in many cases a good deal more. Listen to the testimony of one who experienced the gospel’s power.
Years ago a sailor, John, found the Saviour one Sunday morning. On the following Tuesday he sailed for the River Platte on a freighter. The voyage was safely completed, though John had to put up with a great deal of persecution from the mate, David, for his “religious cant and psalm singing.”
The cargo being discharged, the ship reloaded. But only two days afterward a violent storm caught them in its grip, and the ship seemed ready to sink. A great wave finally struck them on the starboard quarter where both John and the mate, David, were struggling with the wind. Both were washed away. But David caught the railing and was saved, while John was swept clean out to sea on the crest of the wave. Without the least hope of being saved and with nothing but death before him, John shouted out, “David! David! I’m going through the seas to glory!”
Another instant and he was gone, never to be seen again. But those last words, “I’m going through the seas to glory,” rang in David’s ears. The old persecutor said to himself, “A man with death staring him in the face never yet told a lie with his last breath.”
He was a convicted man, and, before he reached home, a converted man too. He found the peace that John enjoyed by believing in Christ Jesus.
Is that peace real? Yes, thank God, it is! Do you want it? Then come to the Saviour yourself. Rest your soul on the value of the blood that cleanses from all sin.