True and False Principles
DAY ONE
PONDER THIS ENGRAVING
MEDITATE ON THESE VERSESJohn 16:6 | Psalm 6:5 | John 16:37 | Psalm19:8 | Nehemiah 9:13-14 | Jeremiah 23:32 | Ezekiel 13:10-11 | Ephesians 4:14
But the word of the Lord endureth forever. 1 Peter 1:25 – Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Matthew xxiv: 35
POETIC REFLECTIONTis thus amid the arctic regions, rise,
The Iceberg’s turrets glittering in the skies,
Like some cathedral Gothic built, it rides,
Borne by the winds, and every-shifting tides:
All shapes fantastic soon the phantom wears,
A palace now, and now a ship appears:
At length it drifts toward some southern shore,
When, lo ‘tis vanish’d, and is seen no more.
Not as the Rock that rears its ancient head,
It’s deep foundations laid in ocean’s bed;
All change resists, unalter’d is its form.
Amid the sunshine, and amid the storm,
Unmoved it stands, and still ‘t will stand secure.
Long as the moon, and as the sun endure
DEVOTION OF INTERPRETATION
The Iceberg lifts its towering summit to the clouds, sparkling and dazzling like a group of temples overlaid with silver. Its crystalline magnificence is bewildering; it forms on of the most splendid objects that the mariner meets with in the northern seas, and at the same time one of the most dangerous. It is a floating mass without foundation; winds, waves, and currents bear it along in all directions. It assumes the most fantastic shapes imaginable; sometimes it looks like mountains piled on mountains; then temples, palaces, and ships are seen by turns; then again cathedrals, of every order of architecture, appear to the eye of the wondering beholder. After awhile it drifts out of the high latitudes into milder climbs. It is carried toward the southern shores; then sun pours its burning rays upon the mammoth temple; turret after turret, spire after spire disappear, until the whole has dissolved. Its glory has departed.
How very different is the nature and destiny of the Rock that is seen lifting its time-worn head above the surrounding waves! It is probably as old as time itself; it retains its ancient position; its foundations take hold of the would; it is marked in the charts, men always know where to find it, and are therefore not endangered by it. Changing the form of the element that surrounds it, itself unchanged, the summer’s sun and winter’s storm alike pass harmlessly by it. It is one of the everlasting hills, it must abide forever.
The engraving is an emblem of True and false principles. False principles are represented by the Iceberg. Like the iceberg, they are without a foundation; however spacious, brilliant and fascinating their appearance, they have no solidity. Like it, too, they are ever-changing; their form receives its various impression from the ever-fluctuating speculations of mankind, and from the power and influence of the times. Like it, they are cold and cheerless to the soul, nipping all its budding prospects, cramping all its mighty powers. Like the iceberg, also false principles will melt away before the burning sun of truth, and pass into oblivion. It will not do to trust in them. Who would make a dwelling-house of the transitory iceberg?
It is not so with true principles; although they may appear somewhat homely at first sight, yet the more they are contemplated the more they will be admired. Like the Rock, their foundations are laid broad and deep. The principles of truth rest on the throne of God; they are as ancient as eternity. Like the Rock, they may always be found. Are they not written in the Holy Bible? Like their Author, they are without variableness or shadow of turning; for,
“Firm as a rock, God’s Truth must stand
When rolling years shall cease to move”
Semper idem–”Always the same”–is their motto. Like the Rock of Ages, true principles live when time shall be no more. As are the principles, so are all who trust in them, for “the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance.”
Barber, John Warner, 1798-1885. Bible Looking Glass: Reflector, Companion and Guide to the Great Truths of the Sacred Scriptures, and Illustrating the Diversities of Human Character, and the Qualities of the Human Heart.
Philadelphia, Bradley, Garretson & Co., 1861