The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1877-05-11
SERMON.
The Voyage of Life.

OK 90 III outkduco bubu 10 miulbtorou unto
you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom
OF our Lord Jesus Chrlst.-2 Pet, 1, IL.
The original is I" so an entrance under tiiu
sail shall be ministered unto YOU" ship at
the close OF its voyage proudly entering port is
made by the Apostle an emblem Of the Chris
tian entering the eternal haven OF rest. / wish
to extend the figure and talk this morning of
the Voyage of Life.
/. AS the ship leaves the dock and gdes out
into the great waste OF waters the land con-
tinues to grow less and less prominent, until at
last it is lost to view altogether. Thus as we
proceed in life's great voyage does the world
loose It's importance. In youth we look ahead
and build air-castles that glitter with unnum-
bered gems, but Time, devoid OF artistic taste,
comes along and ruthlessly levels those fair
structures with the ground. The maiden, look
ing forward to her wedding day, imsgines a
home through whose sacred precincts Happi-
ness will at all times roam; but let ten years
roll around and she will tell you that her
dreams have not been realized In youth the
world appears as everything in manhood it
seems as lacking much that is desirable, in old
age it appears as nothing.
2. In his voyage across the ocean the mariner
makes use Of the CHART. This tells him the
exact longitude and latitude in which the ship
is moving. Would we know our position before
Heaven we must examine the chart-the Word
of God. At the Centennial you would see
people with guide-books. See them in the Art
Gallery. What is the name OF that picture
Who is the artist ? The gulde-book on such a
page will tell them. In this life how many
questions arise whose answers can be found
only in the great Guide-Book. Search the
Scriptures"
3. Only q SLIGHT DEvIATI ON each day from
the proper course will lead the ship very far
from its proposed destination. In report OF
the Liverpool Observatory occurred this state
ment: "The error Of q second day may in
the course Of voyage sink ship" In lfe's
voyage, in order for shipwreck, it is not neces-
sary that we commit all at once some great sin.
He who departs but little each day from the
path Of right ls ruined. In Portage county
Ohio, q courthouse is 80 peculiarly situated
that rain-drop falling on one eide OF the roof
is carried for miles and miles until it enters the
Gulf OF Mexico. Another rain-drop falling on
the other side Of the same roof Is borne in the
opposite direction until 1t reaches the frozen
regions Of the North. When thcy first strike
the roof they are close together, but immedi-
ately their paths dverge, little by little, until
their destination is as opposite as the poles
SO two brothers grow up in the same home.
One by continual effort to do right, rises step
by step in public estimation until he is honored
by all who know him. The other, by wrong
deeds, goes down step by step in the social
scale until the gallows ends his career. Two
lives begun under the same roof diverge little
by little until exactly opposite destinations are
reached.
| 4. STORMS are met with al sea. For many
days the weather may be pleasant and the sea
calm, but sooner or later the dark clouds gather
the vivid flash Of lightning athwart the sky is
seen, the thunder sounds as thunder is heard
only on the ocean, the waves roll mountain
hlgh and the ship hurled hither and thither is
at the mercy OF the angry elements. My friend,
il you expect to make the voyage of lie with
out meeting storms you will be disappointed
The only way to safely encounter these storms
is for you to rise above them. The traveller on
the Alps may reach height where he can look
down and see the storm all below him. The
rain is descending and the lightning is plainly
seen. But the traveller is up so high that not a
rain-drop falls on him-he is above the storm.
When the storm of trouble comes try to rise
above it, Climb the Alps!
5. All on board the ship need to have utmost
confidence in the HELMsMAN. He stands at the
wheel and guides the ship. On his fidelity and
skill the success of the voyage largely depends.
In our voyage God is at the wheel guiding the
Universe to the final consummation Of all
things. In the Divine Helmsman we may put
our trust A father and little boy were riding
in the cars one day when the train shot into q
dark tunnel. The boy, frightened, chung To
his fathers arm. Emerging from the tunnel
the parent asked the child If he was afraid to
ride in the cars. The little fellow replied, "No
il can lean on fathers arm when we come to
the DARK PLACES" How many circumstance
in life are darker than any tunnel cut through
Alps or Aleghanies In these hours We maj
lean on Fathers arm. 1.-The eternal God II
thy refuge aud underneath are the everlasting
arms"
6. There is often BURIAL at sea. The BODY
is made fast to a plank; pieces OF iron ar,
attached to each end Of the PLANK; the wholeii
then cast into the ocean to await the day wher
the "sea shall give up its dead" In our voyag,
there comes many burial Of friends. Dealt
is perfectly natural. Some suppose that i
Man had not sinned in Eden we never would
have died. But Geology teaches that dealt
was in the world long before man came init
existence. Plants and animals came upol
the earth, fulfilled their mission, and died a
plants and animals die now. When the appl
on the tree has become thoroughly ripe it i
: perfectly natural for the stem to loosen il
grasp and let the fruit fall and when you hav
lived to ripe old age it 10 just as natural AM
just as night that you should die as 1t is for tn
, npened fruit to fall to the ground. In on
voyage. however, the friends we bury are no
left behind, they have merely taken taste
, sailing ship and gone on ahead.
r 7. The grandest feature Of voyage is SAIL
NC INTO PORT. AS the ship nears it's destina