ABOUT the year 1696 the first structure was erected on the Eddystone rocks.
The builder boasted that he cared not how wild the storm might be, his building was able to withstand everything that might sweep against it. His boasting however proved to be vain, for in the latter end of the year 1703, in as wild a storm as was ever known to have raged around our coasts, the lighthouse fell, and with it perished its builder.
The second building stood about forty years, and was then destroyed by fire.
The builder of the third, wiser than his predecessors, hit upon a plan of strong firm building, which has ever since been greatly admired. The main feature of it is, that the huge stones forming the building are dovetailed into each other, and at the foundation are dove-tailed into the solid rock: thus the whole structure is firmly knit together, and likewise knit firmly to its foundation. This lighthouse has bravely withstood the wildest storms, and the fiercest waves of the ocean for more than a hundred years.
We see in the story of this building how that there are two things necessary to a stable structure: there must be an immovable foundation; and the superstructure must be firmly fixed into that firm foundation. And how is it with the Christian’s standing? Thank God, we find both things there!
God says (Isa. 28:1616Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. (Isaiah 28:16)), “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation,” and Peter, in his first epistle, ch. 2., applies this word distinctly to Jesus Christ, and this foundation can never be moved.
The same word also tells us, “He that believeth on Him shall not be confounded.” All that Christ is— the chosen, the precious, the sure, foundation—all is for the believer. Such as make lies their refuge, and hide themselves under falsehood, may fancy themselves secure, as did the man who built the first lighthouse upon those rocks; but when God lays judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, “the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.” Oh! happy is he who through grace is upon the sure foundation—Jesus Christ. He shall never be confounded.
But some one may ask, Is it not possible for me, like the man in his lighthouse, to take my stand upon the sure foundation, and yet be swept away with the storm? Is it not possible for me to perish after all? Dear reader, if you have believed in Jesus, it is impossible that you should perish; God’s word declares it.
God speaks of Himself building on the foundation He has laid. Everyone put in the building has been put in by God. If you have believed, you are a stone in this wonderful building. And see how marvelously God builds. The “Living Stone” is the foundation, and every believer in Him is a living stone: each one, even the feeblest and weakest, is partaker of His risen life, and is bound indissolubly to the Lord, thus making, as it were one solid fabric. The Holy Ghost binds us inseparably to each other, and unites us with the risen Christ. We are on Him risen, yea, fixed in Him, and there is no possibility of even hell prevailing against the building.
Is not, then, the position of the believer a most blessed one? What if storms do come, and come they most assuredly will: if trials and difficulties do thicken and multiply, we know that we are bonded into Christ, and He is the Rock that can never be moved.
J. R.