LIGHTHOUSES are erected for a two-fold purpose, and those who have been at sea by night can easily understand and value their double use. The lighthouse warns sailors of danger; there may be a rock partly hidden by water; what great danger to the ships passing by if they should strike upon it in the darkness of the night! But if a lighthouse is raised upon it, in the dark nights of winter when ships are plying from port to port, and when winds are high and waves roar, what cause of deepest thankfulness the sailors have, as they see the warning light shining all the brighter as the night becomes darker! When they see that light they know what it means—namely, danger—and they steer their course accordingly.
But then another use of the lighthouse is to point ships into the harbor; many such lighthouses may be seen along the coasts, where large cities are situated on the banks of rivers, some distance perhaps from the sea. At the mouth of the river, a lighthouse stands to show the ships the way into the harbor. How gladly after a long, long journey over the sea must the sailors on board ship hail the sight of the lighthouse which they know is just outside the harbor for which they are making!
In our magazine we seek to do just what the lighthouses do. In the first place, we warn both old and young of their great danger so long as they neglect God’s great salvation; for He Himself says, “how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Heb. 2:33How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3).)
If a ship were sailing along on a dark night, and the sailors saw a lighthouse which they knew well to be a “danger” lighthouse, and yet if they kept on their way, neglecting the warning light, until the ship was aground upon the rocks, and broken to pieces; you would think such conduct on the part of the captain folly and madness—surely it would be so, but yet hundreds and thousands of people are doing a similar thing at this very time.
God is warning people in the gospel of their very great danger so long as they are without Christ, for their souls are unsaved, and God’s judgments may soon break upon their heads. We read (John 3:3636He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)), “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
You have sometimes seen a black cloud hanging over a city, and you wonder when the rain is corning; at last the big drops begin to fall and the rain comes down in torrents; so it is with the unconverted man; the wrath of God, as His word says, “abides on him” —like the rain cloud, it has not yet broken, but there it is, hanging over the person, and soon it will break in everlasting judgment.
We warn our dear readers, then, whether young or old, rich or poor, to flee from the wrath to come; we warn them of their danger, their terrible danger; there are rocks ahead—are they going again to neglect this the warning voice of the gospel?
But then there is another aspect of the gospel, and that is the good-news side of it. As the lighthouse guides the sailor into the harbor of refuge, so we can point you to the Lord Jesus; we not only warn you of the danger you are in, but we point you to where you can find safety and rest—Jesus Himself says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” the very thing which a laboring one after a hard day’s work needs, the very thing which the sailor wants after having been tossed about for weeks on the restless ocean. Oh! what joy to the heart to come to such a Saviour and to get such a rest as there is to be found in Himself Dear reader, will you not apply these truths to yourself? Are you still on the broad road that leads to destruction? then would we warn you most solemnly of your great danger, and beseech you to come to a Saviour who says now to you, “Come unto Me.” A. F. R.