THE response of these sailors to the demonstration of the reality of the true and only God, and his power, has a serious lesson for us all. The lesson is that people can go a very long way in religion which is right and good, but yet fall short of the real religion that leads to salvation. These sailors reacted to the demonstration of the action of God in a very positive way, but their reaction fell short of what was needed to reconcile them to God.

Within the visible church of God, amongst all of the various denominations and variations which exist in the Christian religion, there are so very many which go very far down the road of faith, but they fail to achieve the faith that saves them. All their religion and religious activity is in vain. The seriousness of this is because when eternity arrives for them, they will find to their horror that they are cast out of the presence of God. The five foolish bridesmaids in the parable of the 10 bridesmaids found in the first 13 verses of Matthew 25 is a case in point. In every way they were like the five wise bridesmaids. No difference could be observed until the moment the bridegroom appeared. Then these foolish bridesmaids were found to lack the essential thing - oil for their lamps. Because of this lack, they failed to enter the marriage feast and found themselves outside and disowned by the master of the feast. This is like so many within the church. In all respects they appear to be like all the rest, but they lack the vital thing, which is real life in the soul. All the religious observances have been followed. Their life has been commendable, but they lack that deep understanding of the nature of sin and their sinfulness, and so never know inner repentance, and so have never cast their whole soul upon the Saviour, Jesus Christ, knowing that he alone can save them from their sin.

Jesus paints the same picture as he applies the teaching he gave in his sermon on the mountain. We read his words in Matthew 7:21-23 - “Not everyone who says to me , ’Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ’I never knew you, Away from me, you evil-doers!’”

THE GOOD IN THE SAILORS RESPONSE TO GOD.

There was much that was good in the response of the sailors to the events that they experienced and the action of God in the storm.

They believed the testimony of God which Jonah gave them that they needed to throw him into the sea. They were reluctant to do this, not so much from concern for Jonah, but rather concern that God might punish them for such action, and make their situation in the storm much worse. However they believed the word of God though their faith was greatly flawed. In obedience they threw Jonah into the sea, and saw the sea swallow him up.

In this obedience the sailors saw the sentence of death being pronounced on Jonah by God, and they saw it take its dire effect. To them Jonah had been drowned. They knew that this action was because Jonah had disobeyed God, and so they were being taught that death was the punishment for sin, and that sin could not go unpunished, hence the storm. Then when the punishment had been exacted, the storm miraculously ceased, and their followed a great calm.

Here was the gospel being preached and illustrated before these sailors. They saw the consequences of sin, and they saw the consequences of sin removed. They were shown how sin can be atoned for. Yet they did not learn the lesson that they were sinners deserving of death, just as Jonah had been.

But still these sailors made a positive response to what they had seen and experienced. The whole episode had a profound effect on their minds and hearts. We are told that they greatly feared God. Here is a good beginning. They learnt the sovereign power of God and that he was sovereign over them and their lives were in his hands.

The sailors had some consciousness of their danger in the face of God. They offered a sacrifice to the Lord. By this they showed they understood that God’s just anger was directed towards them, though they had no real conception of their sin in falling short of the glory of God. By the sacrifice they showed they were seeking to appease the wrath of God against them. All this was good as far as it went.

The sailors went further they made promises to God. They made promises or vows that they would honour God in some way. We are not told any details, but plainly there was in these vows indication of reformation of life in some way. They were seeking to be better people. This too was good.

UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE SAILORS LACKED.

However all this fell short of true saving religion and faith. Much of today’s Christianity in our churches goes very little further than this. In fact today the action of the sailors in offering a sacrifice, and by it seeking to appease the wrath of God against them will be spoken of as ignorance of primative religion, and that today we know better. The teaching of the church today is rather that God is not a God who shows wrath against sin, and such ideas need to be jettisoned. Instead religion today speaks of the universal love of God who readily forgives. But like the sailors such understanding is far from the truth as revealed in the Bible. In fact the sailors were better in their faith than the thinking today because God is justly angry against sin, and can’t easily forgive it unless full atonement has been made.

The sailors did not see their need of atonement for their sin, and this is why today so many see nothing much in the death of Christ, and speak of it simply as a demonstration of love. It is a demonstration of love, but not of sickly love, but of a deep and great love which was prepared the suffer for the sin of others and atone for that sin, and so free the sinner from condemnation. So many in the church today have no real conception of how much they need Christ as their sin bearer, and as the one who can satisfy God’s justice by giving his life in the place of the sinner.

Then we have a further flaw in the sailors piety. They sought to make vows and by this were seeking to merit God’s favour. For them it may have simply been that God would leave them alone and not bring on any more storms into their life. Here is the other great flaw in much religion today. There are people today who have the idea that they can reform in such a way that their life can become commendable to God, and that it is by human effort that they gain salvation. Many achieve a very real measure of success in reformation and good living. They may give their lives in a sacrificial way to help others and love them, and by this make themselves approved before God. But there is lacking the understanding that none of these things have any power to atone for sin. It is not that they should not do these acts of good and charity, but they should realise that such works can’t save their souls.

The sailors did not appreciate the true nature of sin, and the sinfulness of their lives before God. This is the trouble. People do not realise that nothing human beings can do is of such perfection that it meets the holy demands of God, and so they do not come to that place where in desperation they turn to Christ with the cry - ‘be merciful to me a sinner.’

Here is the lack of oil in our lamps. Oil for our lamps is the righteousness of Jesus which alone gives us the light of salvation and life, and brings us into a state of reconciliation with God. Only when we our trusting and resting in Christ’s merits can we be reconciled to God, and begin to serve God and live in his presence.

Trust in our own merits leave us with out any cleansing from sin, and no reconciling with God. This is what Jesus was saying in the quotation from the sermon on the mount given above. We can teach the bible. We can be active against all sin as we see it in society - casting out demons. We can perhaps do miracles and might acts for God. We can be great reformers, and reform our lives so that we live exemplary lives. We can be very religious. However none of these things can atone for our sins, and unless we see this, and see the awfulness before God of the righteousness that we are showing, that all this righteousness has the nature of sin, and before God is defiled; and unless we turn from our own righteousness to trust the Saviour to save us, we have no saving faith.

THE FOLLY OF REFORMATION.

Jesus illustrates the folly of the way of the sailors, even if that way is pursued further and with greater diligence than the sailors pursued it. We find it in the passage in Matthew 12 where Jesus speaks of the prophet Jonah being a sign to the people of his day, specially the Jews.

The passage is St. Matthew 12:38-45. Jesus had answered the request for a sign of his authority asked by the Pharisees. At first we may see the question of the Pharisees as a genuine seeking for light so they may believe on Jesus. Jesus knows the truth behind their question and gave the answer he did. Jesus saw that these Pharisees felt that they were righteous and that their righteousness was challenged by Jesus, and this the Pharisees resented and rejected.

The Pharisees had a religion which outwardly was exemplary. They lived moral, devoted and religious lives. Outwardly they were clean. They had reformed their lives, but their lives were empty. The illustration is in verses 43-45 of Matthew 12

In the face of this Jesus warned them of the consequences of such human righteousness and effort. Jesus tells of the man whose life was reformed. The evil spirit had been cast out of the man. He had reformed. His life had been swept and put in order, but his life was empty. An empty life has to be filled, and unless it is filled with Christ, so that Christ takes up his abode in that life, that life will be taken over by evil, and much worse evil than before.

This is what had happened to the Pharisees. It is so hard to see the seven devils, worse than the previous devil in the life of the Pharisees. The first evil spirit is like living a godless life, and committing many gross sins. The seven devils worse than the first is one of the great subtleties of the devil. He takes the reformation and uses it. In the Pharisees the seven devils were their self-righteousness, and their pride which looked down on others and criticised others and looked down on them and judged them. The seven devils hide sin from the eyes of the Pharisees so they can’t see the sin in their lives. They are unable to see their lives as God sees their lives, and so they are bound more tightly by Satan, and are worse in the eyes of God, than the adulterers and murders and cheats.

CONCLUSION.

The sailors went so far towards God and the good of their souls, but it lacked, and as such was of little value.

Jonah illustrates the right way. Jonah, though more godly and righteous than the sailors, who served God, yet he knew the awfulness of his sin. He bowed under the justness of God’s anger against him and submitted to the authority of God. Jonah accepted the sentence of death which God had pronounced.