There are no marks of shipwrecks, no remnants of lost vessels, floating upon that sea, which flows between God's Jerusalem below and the Jerusalem which is above. The excellent Dr. William Gouge has an observation full to the present point:
If a man were cast into a river, we should look upon him as safe, while he is able to keep his head above water. The Church, Christ's mystic body, is cast into the sea of the world [and, afterwards, into the sea of death]; and Christ, their Head, keeps Himself aloft, even in heaven. Is there, then, any fear, or possibility, of drowning a member of this body? If any should be drowned, then either Christ Himself must be drowned first, or else that member must be pulled from Christ: both which are impossible. By virtue, therefore, of this union, we see that on Christ's safety, our's depends. If he is safe, so are we. If we perish, so must He.
Well, therefore, may dying believers sing, "Not unto us, O Lord, but to Thy Name, give glory! Thy loving mercy carries us, when we cannot go: and, for Thy truth's sake, Thou wilt save us to the utmost without the loss of one."
- excerpt from Augustus Toplady's "Arminianism: The Golden Idol of Freewill"