CHRISTIAN NAVIGATION
Contributed by A. J. Gaskin
In speaking of every-day Christian experience, Mr. Taylor referred to ‘dead reckoning’, the means used by mariners to keep a check on their position when out of sight of land. The navigator starts from a known point—for the Christian the knowledge of the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. He sets his course for a known destination—the hope of being with Christ in glory; but he must now make allowance for adverse currents that would tend to drift him out of his true course. How many through lack of watchfulness have succumbed to the influences and temptations of the world around us!
Then he must take account of the force of the wind. Ephesians 4: 14 warns us of being carried about by every wind of that teaching which is in the sleight of men, a matter set on by the ruler of the authority of the air. But “holding the truth in love” would enable us to be kept right on our course. These exercises are what we may speak of as subjective, affecting our own Christian experience and enabling us to assess at any time where we stand in relation to the things of God. Thus we are able to say where we are and why we are there.
But the mariner has other means of finding his position. With his subjective experience, valuable as it is, he may yet need to apply certain corrections. For the seaman these are observations in the celestial sphere. By a careful observation of the sun at midday, for instance, his exact latitude and longitude can be found. No doubt Paul discovered this on the road to Damascus. He thought he was rendering service to God (as the Lord said in John 16: 2) but the light above the brightness of the sun, and the Lord’s voice, soon enabled him to find his true position before God.
The revelation of Christ to the soul and the objective presentation of His glory is a blessed means to this end. The gospels and the epistles are like our ‘Nautical Almanac’, showing us how the Lord moved down here, and also revealing His present position in glory. During the night of the Lord’s absence we also have the stars, the heavenly light which comes to us through the apostles and by means of the ministry of the recovery. By stellar observations the navigator can check his position and find his exact location. But he needs to know his ‘dead reckoning’ position to do this, that is that the heavenly light in itself becomes mere head knowledge if it is not applied by way of spiritual exercise to the practical issues of our Christian pathway here and our relations with the Lord and His people.
For all this the navigator must keep a constant watch. He cannot afford to be negligent or indifferent or he may suffer shipwreck. To avoid this the apostle exhorts Timothy to ‘maintain faith and a good conscience’ (1 Timothy 1: 19). While as yet not actually in sight of his goal, faith sustains the Christian’s heart with the “conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11: l), while the maintenance of a good conscience towards God preserves him from the efforts of the enemy to divert him from a course of righteousness. On shipboard a ‘watch’ is always set; how much more necessary it is therefore that we should be watchful. There are at least fourteen exhortations in the New Testament to encourage us to do this.
The bright planet Venus, the brightest of all the planets and stars, often comes up in the morning before the sunrise, a beautiful harbinger of the coming day. Romans 13: 12 tells us that the night is far spent and the day is near. John reminds us that the darkness is passing and the true light already shines, so that we can say with Peter that the morning star has arisen in our hearts. The Lord says in Revelation 22, “I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star”, and in answer to this the Spirit and the bride say, “Come”. What a blessed hope for the heavenly mariner! The voyage is nearly ended and it can be said of him, as was said of those in Psalm 107: 30, “He bringeth them unto their desired haven”.
‘The night is far spent, and the day is at hand;
No sign to be looked for the Star’s in the sky.
Rejoice then, ye saints, ‘tis your Lord’s own command;
Rejoice, for the coming of Jesus draws nigh’. (Hymn 194)
Aberdeen