Sermon Tone Analysis

By Pastor Glenn Pease

Storms had ravaged the ships; the Pinta had lost her rudder; the food was getting wormy, and the crew was threatening mutiny.

Conditions could hardly have been worse, for there was darkness, danger, hunger, panic, and exhaustion.

All of these stared them in the face, and yet the Admiral of the ship refused to turn back.

Day after day he wrote in his log, "This day we sailed on.

When Joaquin Miller read that log that Columbus had written on his first voyage across the uncharted Atlantic, his imagination caught on fire, and he felt he was right there with him.

He could feel the sting of the spray on his cheeks, and he could hear the roar of the sea, and in spite of the fact that all he could see was endless darkness he felt secure, for he knew he stood by a man of steadfast purpose, who was assured of his goal, and knew he would reach it.

Miller was so possessed with the amazing perseverance of Columbus that he spontaneously poured out his feelings in poetry.

I want to share just a part of that poem.

The mate is speaking.

"My men grow mutinous day by day; My men grow ghastly, wan and weak."

The stout mate thought of home; a stray of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek.

What shall I say, brave Adm'r'l, say, if we sight naught but seas at dawn?

"Why, you shall say at break of day: Sail on!

sail on!

sail on!

and on!"

They sailed and sailed, as wind might blow, Until at last the blanched mate said,

Why, now not even God would know Should I and all my men fall dead.

These very winds forget their way, For God from these dread seas is gone.

Now speak, brave Adm'r'l; speak and say-"He said: Sail on!

sail on!

and on!"

They sailed and sailed.

Then spake the mate: This mad sea shows its teeth tonight.

He curls his lip, he lies in wait, With lifted teeth, as if to bite!

Brave Adm'r'l say but one good word: What shall we do when hope is gone?"

The words leapt like a leaping sword: Sail on!

sail on!

sail on!

and on!

We all know that in spite of the number and magnitude of the obstacles, Columbus did sail on and on until he reached land.

The question naturally

arises, why did he have such assurance when all others feared for their lives?

Was he just stubborn, or did he have no fear of death, or was there another reason for his assurance in the midst of great trial?

Columbus answers this question for us himself in the first sentence of his will.

He wrote this: "In the name of the Most Holy Trinity, who inspired me with the idea, and afterward made it perfectly clear to me, that I could navigate and go the Indies from Spain, by traversing the ocean westwardly..."

By his own testimony in which he gives all the glory to God he tells us his assurance was due to the fact that he knew he was following the leading of God.

If a man knows and is assured that he is on a course charted by God, then nothing can cause him to forsake it.

Therefore, the most important factor in any person's life is assurance, for it will enable a man to ride out any and all storms, and finally to arrive at his goal.

All people are on a voyage across an uncharted sea of time heading for the new world of eternity.

Some will go down in the storms; others will lose their way, and still others will chose to change their course and give up the goal.

But there will be many also who will, like Columbus, sail on and on and on, and at last arrive because they have God's assurance that they will.

We want to consider two facts about assurance that John makes clear, for these two facts are precious gems from the vault of God's own treasure.

To know them and believe them, and then to obey them is to be partaker of the very riches of Christ.

First we observe that-

I. ASSURANCE IS POSSIBLE.

v. 3.

"Hereby we do know that we do know Him." John is saying, not only can we know God, but we can know that we know Him, and it is this knowing that we know that is called assurance.

It is not enough just to know that Jesus died for the sins of the world, and that He is the Advocate of all who believe and trust Him.

We must know that He died for my sins, and is my Savior, and my Advocate.

John says that such assurance is possible.

This is good news in itself, and adds greatly to the Christians joy, for it gives him a solid foundation on which to build in a world where uncertainty seems to rule.

One cannot be stable and secure unless he can know something significant for sure.

It is not enough to believe that you can be sure about what Benjamin Franklin said, "In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes."

If certainty is limited to these things, then the skeptics are not far off who say, "The only certainty is that nothing is certain."

Or, "Nothing is more certain than uncertainties."

You cannot build very high on the hope of such men, for they have no hope, and life to them is one big tragic sham.

Omar Khayyam said,

"One thing at least is certain-this life flies.

One thing is certain, and the rest is lies."

Such pessimism is the natural result of men who see only with the eyes of flesh, and not the eyes of faith.

Faith alone sees God's revelation, and this changes the whole picture.

The materialistic and secular mind is blind to spiritual truths, and can only speak of relativity and probability.

Nothing is absolutely certain, and as a result there is no assurance.

This makes everyone and everything unstable.

A teacher asked the son of a weatherman, "How much is two plus two?"

And he said, "Four probably."

She asked him, "How old would a person be if they were born in 1920?"

And he asked, "Man or woman?"

Some people think of life in terms of the weather and a woman's age, and so they feel that probable conclusions are the best we can have.

In these areas probability is good enough, for we do not have to be certain of the weather or of a woman's age.

But when it comes to salvation and the goal of life, we can never be content with anything less than certainty.

Those who talked about hoping they are saved cannot have the peace necessary to be happy in the Lord.

A man has to know he is saved, and the point here is that such certainty and assurance is possible.

John had to write to this to the Christians of his day because with all the false doctrine and false claims being made, they could easily be confused and wonder if they were among the true Christians, or the deceived Christians.

Today Christians still get confused and wonder for sure if they are right or wrong, and how they can be sure that they are really saved.

Theologians of both the Calvinist and Arminian school agree that it is possible to be saved on not be sure of it, for salvation and assurance of salvation are not the same thing.

Charnock, a Calvinist, wrote, "The characters of faith may be written in the heart as letters engraved upon a seal, yet filled with so much dust as not to be distinguished.." Watson, an Arminian, wrote, "A child of God may have a kingdom of grace in his heart and yet not know it.

O Jacob wept for his son Joseph, when Joseph was still alive; thou mayest weep for want of grace, when grace may be alive in thy heart."

Because it is possible to be saved and lack assurance of it, it is of the utmost importance that we know that assurance is possible.

Some not knowing of this go on living in a hope-so-salvation, when a know-so-salvation is possible, and it is God's will for each believer to know.

R. E. Neighbour wrote,

What wondrous blessings overflow,

When we can truly say, I know.

I know in whom I have believed,

I know the one I have received,

I know His blood avails for me,

I know that I was blind, but see,

I know that my Redeemer lives,

I know the gift He freely gives,

I know He'll keep me till the end,

I know He's my unfailing Friend.

In order to gain the full benefit of God's plan, the Christian must know this primary fact, that he not only can know God, he can know that it is God that he knows, and thereby have full assurance of his salvation.

After stating that assurance is possible, John goes on to explain that-

II.

ASSURANCE IS PRACTICAL.

It is the result of a very practical test.

If we keep His commandments is the test.

We know because we obey.