Spirit Jesus

“Jonah said unto them, take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not, for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them”. – Jonah i 12, 13

1. Our first observation is that sinners, when they are tossed upon the sea of conviction, make desperate efforts to save themselves.

2. The second point, like these mariners, the fleshy efforts of awakened sinners must inevitably fail.

3. The third point of the sermon, that the soul’s sorrow will continue to increase, so long as it relies upon its own efforts.

4. The fourth point, that the way of safety for sinners is to be found in the sacrifice of another on their behalf.

Since they struggle in an unlawful manner, the crown of victory will never be awarded them; they may kindle the fire, and rejoice in the sparks thereof, but thus saith the Lord, “This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow”.

Let us notice some forms of the fleshy energy of men straining after self-salvation:

The most usual is moral reformation. Moral reforms are excellent in themselves, but they are dangerous if we rest in them. I would have the leopard tamed and caged, but it will not remove his spots. Unless reforms are founded in regeneraton, they are baseless things which fail in the end for want of foundation; they are deceptive things affording a transient hope, which soon, alas! must melt away. {you must be born again}

Others add to their reformation a superstitious regard to the outward form of religion. Superstition is hard rowing; the ship will not come to the land thereby. Men invent ceremony after ceremony; there is this pomp and that show, this gaudy ornament and that procession; but the whole matter ends in outward display; no secret soul-blessing results flow therefrom.

Many persons row hard to get the ship to land by a notional belief in orthodox doctrine. This supersitution is harder to deal with, but quite as dangerous as the belief in good works. Sound doctrine is all very well, but he who boasts thus may be no better than the devil; nay, he may not be so good; for the devil believes and trembles, but these men believe and are too much hardened in their own conceit to think of trembling.

Orthodox sinners will find that hell is hot, and their knowledge will not yield a cooling drop to their parched tongues. Condemning other people, cutting off the saints of God right and left, is but poor virtue, and to have these blessed doctrines in the head while neglecting them in the heart is anything but a gracious sign.

Ah! You may row with those oars, but you will not get the ship to land; ye must be saved by sovereign grace, through the operation of the Holy Spirit upon the heart, or you will not be saved at all. As it is not by doing that we are saved, neither is it by subscribing creeds; there is something more than this needed ere the ship reach the port.

O beloved! It is a blessed thing to get right out of self. But many believers seem to have one foot on self and one on Christ. They are like the angel wth one foot on the sea and the other on the land; only, being angels, they cannot stand on such a footing. Put both feet on the rock, beloved; stand altogether on Christ.

Christian Classics Collection
http://www.3rdpartynet-christian-classics.com/