But it shall not those dead always retain, 17
A New Compass for Seamen : Ot, CHAP.
XXXI.
Thefeaman'sgreatest danger's near the coast ; When we are nearest heav'n, the danger's most.
OBSERVATION.
Hough seamen meet with violent storms, yet if they have T sea room enough, they are not much dismayed: but if they find themselves near the shore,they look upon their condition asverydangerous: the fight of the shore is to them (as Solomon speaks of the morning in anothercafe) like the shadow of death, if not able to weather it.
For one ship swallowed up in the ocean, many perish upon the coast.
APPLICATION.
The greatest straits and difficulties that many faints meet with in all their lives, is whentheycome nearest to heaven, and have almost finished their course.
Heaven, indeed, is a glorious place, the spacious, androyalmansion of the great king; but difficilia quae pulchra ; it hath a strait and narrow entrance, Luke xiii. 24. O the difficulty of arriving there ! how many hard tugs in duty, what earnest contention and striving, even to an agony! as that word imports, Luke xiii. 24.
Multitudes put forth, and by profession are bound for this fair haven : but of the multitudes that put out, how few do arrive there ? Amanmayset out byagloriousprofeffion, with much resolution, and continue long therein; he may offer very fair for it, and not be far from the kingdom of God, and yet not be able to enter at the last, Mat. vii. 22.
Yea, and many of those who are sincere intheirprofeffion, and do arrive at last, yet come to heaven (as I may say) by the gates of hell ; and put in, as a poor weather-beaten vessel comes into the harbour, more like a wreck than a ship, neither mast nor fail left.
The righteous themselves are scarcely saved, (i. e.) they are saved with very much difficulty.
They have not all an abundant entrance, as the apostle speaks,2Pet. i. 11 .
Some persons (as * one well notes) are afaroff, Eph. ii. 23.
' (i. e.) touched with no care of religion: some come near, • but never enter, as semi-converts.
See Matth. xii. 34.
• Others enter, but with great difficulty, they are saved as by fire, 1 Cor. iii. 13. Make an hard shift. But then there
• are some that go in with full fail before the wind, and have ⚫an abundant entrance: theygotriumphingoutoftheworld."
*Man ton on Jude. p. 119.
Navigation Spiritualized.
Ah! whenwecome into the narrow channel, at the very point of entrance into life, the soul is then in the most serious frame ; all things look with a new face; conscience scans our evidence most critically; then, also, Satan falls upon us, and makes his forest assaults, and batteries.
It is the last encounter; if they escape him now, they are gone out of his reach for ever : and if he cannot hinder their salvation, yet if he can but cloud their evening, and make them go groaning and howhng out of the world, he reaches another end by it, even to confirm and prejudice the wicked, and weaken the hands of others that are looking towards religion.
REFLECTION .
If this be so, how inevitable is my perdition, may the care less soul say ?
If they that strive so much, and go so far, yet perish at last ; and if the righteous themselves are scarcely saved, then where shall such an ungodly creature as I appear ?
Lord! if they that have made religion their business, and have beenmanyyears pursuing a work of mortification, have gone mourning after the Lord Jesus, and walked humbly with God ; yet if some of these have such an hard tug at last, then what will become of such a vain, sensual, careless, flesh-pleasing wretch as I have been ?
Again, Do faints find it so strait an entrance ? Then, though I have well-grounded hopes of safe arrival at last ; yet let me look to it, that I do not increase the difficulty. Ah ! they are the things that are now done, or omitted, that put conscience into such an agony then; for then it comes to review the life with the most serious eye. O let me not stick my death bed full of thorns, against I come to lie down upon it. O that I may turn to the wall, in that hour, as Hezekiah did, 2 Kings xx.
2, 3. and say, " Remember now, O Lord, how I have walked " before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart," &c.
The POЕМ.
AFter a tedious passage, faintsdefcry The glorious shore, salvation being nigh :
Death's long boat's launch'd, ready to set ashore Their pantingfouls. O how they tug at oar,
Longing to be at rest ! but then they find The hardest tug of all is yet behind.
Just at the harbour's mouth they fee the wreck Of fouls there cast away, and driven back.
A world of dang'rous rocks before it lie ; The harbour's barr'd, and now the winds blow high :
VOL . VI .
A New Compass for Seamen : Or, Thoughts now arise, fears multiply apace ; All things about them have another face.
Life blazes, just like an expiring light, The soul's upon the lip prepar'd for flight.
Death, till the resurrection, tears and rends, Out of each other's arms, two parting friends,
The soul and body. Ah! but more than so, The devil falls upon them e're they go, With new temptations, back'dwith all his pow'r,
And scruples, kept on purpose for that hour.
This is the last encounter, now, or never ; If he fucceedeth now, they're gone for ever.
Thus in they put, with hardship at the last, As ships out of a storm, nor fail, nor mast :
Yet some go in before a wind, and have Their streamer of assurance flying brave.
Lord, give me easier entrance, if thou please ; Or if I may not there arrive with ease, Yet I beseech thee, set me safe a-shore,
Tho' stormy winds at harbour's mouth shouldroar.
CHAP.
XXXII .
ン Howgladare seamen when they make the shore?
And faints, no less, when all their danger's d'er.
OBSERVATION .
WTHAT joy is there among seamen, when at last, after a tedious and dangerous voyage, theydefcry land, and seethe desired haven before them ? Then they turn out of their loathed cabins, and come upon open deck with much joy. Psal.
cvii. 30. "Then they are glad, because they be quiet:
So he " bringeth them to their desired haven." Now they can reflect, with comfort, upon the manydangerstheyhave past, Olim haec meminiffe juvabit ; it is sweet to recount them.
APPLICATIΟΝ .
But Owhat a transcendent joy, yea, ravishing, will over-run the hearts of saints, when, after so many conflicts, temptations, and afflictions, they arrive in glory, and are harboured in heaven, where they shall reft for ever ! 2 Theff. i. 7.
The scripture faith, They shall sing the song of Moses, and of the Lamb," Rev. xv. 3.
The song of Moses was a triumphant song, composed for the celebration of that glorious deliverance at the red sea.
The saints are now fluctuating upon a trouble. fomeandtempestuous sea; their hearts sometimes ready to fink, and die within them, at the apprehension of fo many and great
Navigation Spiritualized.
dangers and difficulties. Many a hard storm they ride out, and many straits and troubles they here encounter with, but at last they arrive at their desired and long expected haven, and thenheavenrings and resounds with their joyful acclamations.
And how can it be otherwise, when as soon as ever they set foot upon that glorious shore, Christ himself meets and receives them, with a " Come ye blessed of my Father," Matth. xxv. 34. Ο joyful voice ! O much desired word ! faith Paraeus, what tribulation would not a man undergo for this word's fake !
Besides, then they are perfectlyfreedfrom all evils, whether of finor suffering, and perfectly filled with alldefired good. Now they shall join with that great assembly, in the high praises of God. O what a day will this be ! if, said a * worthy divine,
Diagoras died away with an excess of joy, whilst he embraced. his three sons that were crowned as victors in the Olympic games in one day : and good old Simeon, when he saw Christ but in a body subject to the infirmities of our nature, cried out,
" Now let thy servant depart in peace;" what unspeakable joy will it be to the saints, to behold Christ in his glory, and fee their godly relations also (to whose conversion, perhaps, they have been instrumental) all crowned, in one day, with everlasting diadems of bliss! and if the stars did, as Ignatius faith, make a choir, as it were, about that star that appeared at Christ's incarnation, and there is such joy in heaven at the conversion of a sinner ; no wonder, then, the morning stars sing together, and the sons of God shout for joy, when the general assembly meet in heaven : O how will the arches of heaven ring, and echo, when the high praises of God shall be in the mouth of such a congregation ! then shall the saints be joyful in glory, and sing aloud upon their beds of everlasting rest.
REFLECTION.
And is there such a day approaching for the sons of God, indeed! and have I [authority] to call myself one of the num ber ! John i. 12. O then let menotdroop at present difficulties, nor hang down my hands when I meet with hardships in the way. O my soul, what a joyful day will this be ! for at present we aretoffed upon an ocean of troubles, fears, and temptations ; but these will make heaven the sweeter.
Chear up, then,O my soul, thy salvation is now nearer than when thou first believedst, Rom. xiii. 11. and it will not now be long e're I receive the end of my faith, I Pet. i. 9. and then it will be sweet to restect even upon these hardships in the way.
Sf2 * Morning Exercise, p. 651.
New Compass for Seamen : Or, Yet afewdays more, andthencomes thatbleffeddaythouhaft so longwaitedand panted for.
Oppose the glory of that day, Omy foul, to thy present abafures and tufferings, as blessed
Paul did, Rom. i. 18. and thou shaltseehowitwill shrink them all up to nothing; opposetheinheritance thou shalt receive in that day, to thy losses for Christ now; and fee how joyfully it will make thee bear them, Heb. x. 34. oppose the honour that will be putuponthee in that day, to thy present reproaches, and see how easy it will make them to thee, 1 Cor. iv. 5.
What condition can I be in, wherein the believing thoughts of this blessed day cannot relieve me ?
Am I poor, here is that which answers poverty. Jam. iii. 5.
" Hearken, my beloved brethren,hathnotGodchofen the poor " of this world, rich in faith, andheirsof the kingdom ?"
Am I tempted ? here is relief against that, Rev. xii. 16, " Now is comesalvationand strength ; for the accuser of our
" brethren is cast down," &c.
Am I deserted ? Here is a remedy for that too, Rev. xxii. 5.
" And there shall be no night there," &c.
Come then, my soul, let us enter upon our inheritancebydegrees, and begin the life of heaven upon earth.
W The POEM.
HEN Solomon in Israel first was king, Heav'n's arches, earth's foundations, seem'd to ring
With joyful exclamations ? How much more Will heav'n resound, when saints are come a-shore !
How will the ravished souls transported be At the first glimpse of Christ ! whom they shall see
In all his glory; and shall live, and move, Like salamanders, in the fire of love.
A flood of tears convey'd them to the gate Where endless joys receiv'd them.
Now the date Of all their sorrow's out ; henceforth they walk In robes of glory. Now there's no more talk
Of fears, temptations, of that snare, or this :
No serpent in that paradise doth hiss.
Mo more desertions, troubled thoughts, or tears ; Christ's full enjoyment supersedes those fears.
Delights of princes courts are all but toys To these delights, these are transcendent joys,
Thejoysof Christ himself ; of what they are, An angel's tongue wou'd stammer to declare.
Wereourconceptionsclear, did their tonguesgo Unto theirEla, yet the note's too low.
Navigation Spiritualized.
What! paintthefun too bright ! it cannot be ; Sure heaven suffers no hyperbole.
My thoughts are swallow'd up, mymusedothtire, Andhangherwings, conception foarsno higher.
Give me a place among thy children there, Altho' I ly withthemindungeons here, I
A concluding SPEECH.
Havenowdone, and am looking to heaven for a blessing upon these weak labours ; what use you will make of them, I know not, but this I know, that the day is coming, when God will reckon with you for this, and all other helps and means afforded to you : and if it be not improved by you, be sure it will be produced as a witness against you.
Sirs, I beg you, in the name of Christ, before whom both you and I must shortly appear, that you receive not these things in vain. Did
I know what other lawful means to use that might reach your hearts, they should not be in vain to you ; but I cannot do
God's part of the work, nor your's : only I request you all, both masters, common men, and all others into whose hands this shall come, that you will lay to heart what you read ; pray unto him that hath the key of the house of David, that openeth and noman shutteth, to open your hearts to give entertainment to these truths. Alas ! if you apply it not toy ourselves,
I have labouredtono purpose; the pen of the scribe is in vain : but God may make such an application of them, in one storm or another, as may make your hearts to tremble. O firs ! when death and eternity look you in the face, conscience may reflect upon these things to your horror and amazement, and make you cry out, as Prov. v. 12, 13.
" How have I hated knowledge, " and my heart despised reproof! and have not obeyed the voice
*" of my teacher, nor inclined my ears to them that instructed " me ?"
And O what a dreadful shriek will such fouls give, when the Lord opens their eyes to see that misery that they are here warned of !
But if the Lord shall bless these things, to your conversion, then we may fay to you, as Moses did to Zebulun, the mariners tribe, Deut. xxxiii. 12. " Rejoice Zebu- " lun in thy going out."
The Lord will be with you, which way soever you turn yourselves ; and being in the bosom of the covenant, you are safe in the midst of all dangers. Othou, that art the Father of spirits, that formedst and canst easily reform the heart, open thou the blind eye, unstop the deaf ear, let the word take hold upon the heart.
If thou wilt but say the word, these weak labours shall prosper, to bring home many lost souls unto thee. Amen.