EXTRACT – THE LAWS OF NAVIGATION
The purpose is to consider, as being in an evil day, what is our anchorage within in the unchanging stability of our God, and to prove without the availability and adaptability and activity of the Lord, finding what He can be to the assembly which He so loves. The first assures stability constitutionally with us, and the second furnishes precious experience in matters as they arise.
…One could liken the first thought to the great laws of navigation finding their centre in the sun and the stars, a divinely established system governed by certain laws from which the navigator must under no conditions depart: but in addition to that there is the navigator’s log-book; that is, the peculiar experiences proved in relation to unexpected exigencies that arise, such as varied winds and currents. The spiritual navigator must have these two thoughts among others that find expression in this chapter [2 Tim.2]: on the one hand, the irrevocable laws stabilised in God Himself, the purposes of His love and power to bring to pass everything that He has set His heart upon; and, on the other hand, amid the varied currents, storms and winds, the peculiar adaptation of the Lord on our side to meet every situation.
…Cling to the light, as you cling to the Person in whom the light is. Do not go by your feelings. A sailor goes by the sun. If he goes by his feelings, changing every day, he is soon on the rocks. Your feelings throw you on yourself; the light throws you on Christ
…Rest assured that the unsteadiness in church balance, the susceptibility to friendships and family influences, the uncertainty of navigation in stormy weather, will often have their roots with a sailor in his lack of establishment in the great laws of navigation.
From a reading with P. Lyon, Weston-super-Mare
17 August 1946
Edited and Published by John Brown and Paul Martin
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